Strong winds throw ferry timetable and draw flood alert

Very strong wind and rain have disrupted ferry sailings and drawn a flood alert for the west of Shetland this weekend.

70 mile-an-hour gusts are expected for this afternoon (Saturday), which the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) say could combine with heavy rain to cause “minor coastal flooding”.

“Particularly at risk are causeways and low lying coastal roads exposed to the west,” the alert reads, as a result of “spray and wave overtopping caused by very strong winds” both Saturday and Sunday.

The alert is expected to lift on Monday.

NorthLink has cancelled both passenger and freight sailings for Saturday evening, and said delays can be expected on Sunday.

The northbound service for Lerwick will leave Aberdeen at 5pm and arrive up to two hours late.

The southbound ferry has been delayed indefinitely, “allowing conditions to improve”. It was due to depart at 7pm.

Sepa have issued alerts of possible flooding across the Highlands and Islands this weekend. Parts of Orkney and Ayrshire have seen more severe warnings that flooding is likely.

POLL: Is Die Hard a Christmas film? 

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In this week’s Shetland Times

In today’s (Friday, 16th August) edition of The Shetland Times:

• Sheriff makes example of construction firm after site death.
• Businesses “hamstrung” by new trading rules.
• Bird numbers at critical level despite slow recovery.
• Women in fisheries group launches.
• Consultation opens on religious participation in schools.
• EXCLUSIVE: Hundreds test for sexually transmitted diseases.
• EXCLUSIVE: Interview with peer researcher.
• Latest reflections on the Middle East conflict from Fred Schlomka.
• Shetland Times wins press award recognition.

Man jailed for driving offences from 2019

A banned driver has been jailed for nine months after admitting three separate charges at Lerwick Sheriff Court.

Gary Guilfoyle, 33, from Lesmahagow, South Lanarkshire, pleaded guilty to the offences when he appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court today (Thursday).

He admitted driving while disqualified and with no insurance in Lerwick’s Burgh Road and on the Black Gaet on 28th June 2019.

He also admitted refusing to give a urine sample to the police after being taken to the Gilbert Bain Hospital.

The court heard Guilfoyle was already disqualified when he used his brother-in-law’s car.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said Guilfoyle had been “under the influence,” when the car came off the road near the Black Gaet.

Police were made aware of the situation and took him into custody.

Mr MacKenzie told the court Guilfoyle was given 90 minutes to produce a urine sample, but he wanted to “frustrate” officers instead.

An incident with officers caused the need for an amputation of one of Guilfoyle’s fingers on his right hand.

Since the incident, the court heard four warrants had been issued to pursue Guilfoyle and he was taken into custody in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, on the fourth attempt.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client would have a “permanent reminder of his folly”.

Mr Allan asked Sheriff Ian Cruickshank to consider his client’s time already spent in custody if he was to hand down a custodial sentence.

He asked for leniency to allow Guilfoyle to pursue a job offer he was due to take up in January, with his father.

Sheriff Cruickshank noted that Guilfoyle had previous convictions, including a five month prison term.

As well as passing two concurrent custodial sentences, Sheriff Cruickshank also banned Guilfoyle from driving for another three years.

Lerwick man given payback order for drug possession

A 36-year-old man was told to complete an 80-hour community payback order, after he pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine.

Ross Sutherland, of Kveldsro Gardens, Lerwick, was stopped by police on the 21st November 2023, when they recovered 5.98 grams of the Class A substance on him.

Procurator Fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said illicit drugs had been valued between £480 and £600.

Defence agent Gregor Kelly told the court that his client had been “in the throes” of a cocaine addiction but had since curtailed his usage.

“He realises he is no longer a young man,” Mr Kelly said.

Sutherland’s payback order will be reviewed in three months.

Anger mounts over government Waspi decision

Politicians have reacted angrily to a UK government announcement there will be no compensation for Waspi women.

The controversial decision comes after work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall rejected calls for financial payouts to millions of women born in the 1950s, who say they were not adequately informed of a rise in state pension age to bring into line with men.

Isles MSP Beatrice Wishart has slammed the announcement, insisting it “flies in the face” of findings from the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which recommended that the government apologise and pay compensation to women affected by the increase.

Campaigners have spent years calling for compensation, arguing the changes in state pension age were not communicated properly between 1995 and 2007.

Ms Wishart said: “Campaigners have long fought this battle and I will be with them as a member of the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group for Waspi as they continue to press for their compensation.

“The UK government must rethink this decision and redress the unfairness brought upon many women.”

Her Westminster colleague Alistair Carmichael also condemned the government’s decision to reject the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s ruling.

Mr Carmichael said: “The findings of the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman were clear: the government failed to provide accurate, adequate and timely information to women affected by the state pension changes.

“The ombudsman was equally clear that those affected deserve compensation.

“It is hard to see how the government can reject that basic conclusion.

“Government budgets may be under pressure but there is no point in having the ombudsman make such a ruling if we do not respect its findings, which were themselves far from what the women affected were hoping for.

“The women involved have tirelessly campaigned for justice and deserve our admiration for their persistence. Ministers would be wise to think carefully about the political implications of discarding the ombudsman’s ruling today.

“We cannot of course forget the malpractice of the outgoing Conservative government in all this.

“Sitting on the ombudsman’s report for months before the election and cynically refusing to allocate any funding for compensation was utterly irresponsible and directly led to the mess we have today.”

MSP ‘astonished’ over accountability claim for iCentre closures

A Scottish government minister has been accused of dodging accountability over the closure of all Visit Scotland’s tourism centres.

One MSP was left “astonished” when she claimed the minister for business passed on responsibility to VisitScotland.

List representative Rhoda Grant asked the minister Richard Lochhead to take action to prevent the closures of the visitor centres – known as iCentres.

However, she was left irritated by Mr Lochhead’s outright dismissal.

“I am astonished that having put very detailed questions to the cabinet secretary, his stark response addresses none of those concerns but instead bats the issue over to VisitScotland as an operational matter for them,” Ms Grant said.

The Scottish government funds 94 per cent of VisitScotland’s budget, the Labour MSP continued.

She added: “But that appears to be of no concern to the SNP government.”

In March this year, Visit Scotland announced it would close all of its 25 visitor centres across the country.

The move courted controversy, with isles tourism bosses branding the axe of the Lerwick facility a “fundamental blow,” to the hospitality sector.

The Scottish government has been approached for comment.

MSP welcomes energy regulator’s standing charge consultation

An MSP has welcomed a decision from the energy regulator to consult on introducing zero standing charges under the price cap.

Green MSP Ariane Burgess wrote to Ofgem earlier this year, highlighting the disproportionate effect charges have on people from rural areas.

The Highlands and Islands MSP said bringing a consultation to the public was a “significant shift” in energy policy.

“Much more must be done to help rural households who face the highest rates of fuel poverty,” Ms Burgess said.

Standing charges put hard working people off reducing their energy usage efficiently.

“The standing charges issue is fundamentally about fairness: there is no reason why energy bills for millions of poorer, low-income households should  be proportionately more expensive than those of many larger and wealthier households,” she said.

“The government and Ofgem must work together to provide support for vulnerable customers who have high energy needs while enabling those who use less energy to avoid the moral  hazard of an effective poll tax on energy use.”

Some suppliers already offer low- or no-standing charge tariffs, but they are not universal.

Ms Burgess added that more choice is needed for all consumers, including those in debt.