17/02/2016 Reporting Scotland

including a first look at tomorrow's papers. Here,

A hill walker and a climber have died in separate incidents

The hill walker was one of three men missing overnight

in the Southern Uplands while the climber was caught

in an avalanche near Spean Bridge this afternoon.

A young couple last seen at the weekend on Ben Nevis

Our reporter, Craig Anderson, is in Fort William.

The sad news tonight is that one man has died and another remains in

hospital having been caught up in an avalanche on a popular mountain area

between Spean Bridge and Newtonmore. The avalanche was seen by other

climbers in the area and rescue teams and a coastguard helicopter

was scrambled to the area. They were taken to hospital in Fort William

were one of the men was pronounced dead. Both are believed not to be

local to the area. The coastguard helicopter was in fact at the time

looking for two other climbers who are missing an Ben Nevis, Tim Newton

and Rachel Slater from the Bradford area. They have not been heard of

since they set off to climb Ben Nevis at the weekend and fears are

growing for their safety. Tonight it is understood that Rachel Slater's

parents have arrived in the area to find out the latest in the search. A

decision whether to resume that search will be taken tomorrow

morning depending on weather conditions.

An intensive search began last night when the three hikers failed

to return from a planned walk in the hills near this village.

They were named as Jeffrey Stewart, 74, George Crosbie, 73,

and 64-year-old Bobby Thomson, or from Dumfries.

Experienced hill walkers familiar with the area,

we know they parked up here yesterday, the car

They went for a walk and were expected to return around

At its height, the search involved police, four search and rescue teams

Conditions last night were described as appalling.

The guys were saying they could barely stand up

Visibility was very low, so searching was really difficult.

The men had left no details of their intended route,

and the search area was up to 40 square miles.

News came through just after one o'clock that the coastguard

helicopter had located the men in open countryside around

They were said to be in a poor condition.

The crew took them on board and transferred them to hospital

It has since been confirmed that one of the men was pronounced

The other two are being treated for hypothermia.

A man who abducted and raped a 15-year-old girl on her way home

from school in Dunfermline has been jailed.

26-year-old Mark Armstrong subjected her to a harrowing ordeal

Mark Armstrong had spent the days beforehand robbing and assaulting

Then on Thursday the 12th of March, he committed the crime

that was today described as cruel, depraved and inhumane.

He kidnapped the girl as she returned home from school,

threatened her with a knife, forced her onto the grounds

of a derelict cottage, and raped her.

That and what followed shocked detectives with years of experience.

It's horrific, what this 15-year-old girl has been subjected to.

There is really nothing I can compare this to,

it is worse than I have dealt with in my 22 years' service.

From the cottage, Armstrong marched his victim for miles,

eventually ending up at his Dunfermline home,

26-year-old Armstrong only spoke to the girl to tell her what to do,

As night became day, there was another return

Armstrong initially said he would let her go,

He took her back to his home again, and then he made her walk

Finally, in the early hours of the Saturday morning,

the 32-hour ordeal ended here at the entrance

He had walked her here, given her her mobile phone and left.

She called her mother, who came to get her.

Police described the mother hugging her daughter.

The girl was shaking, crying and occasionally howling.

Today at the High Court in Glasgow, the judge handed Mark Armstrong

a lifelong restriction order and told him he will have to serve

a minimum of four years in prison before he can be

There will be no assessment carried out and no consideration

by the parole board for four years, but that does not mean he will be

The key element is the lifelong restriction.

What that means is that Mark Armstrong will remain under

the supervision of the state for the rest of his life,

and he will remain in custody until such a time as it is assessed

that he no longer presents a risk to the public.

He already had a number of convictions for crimes

of violence, and police say it is due to the courage and bravery

of his 15-year-old victim that he is back in jail.

A five-month-old baby girl from Levenmouth in Fife has died.

Hayley Davidson died this afternoon in hospital in Edinburgh.

She had been there since Sunday after police were called to a house

in Buckhaven following a report of concern for a child.

A man's appeared in court charged with murder after the death

The body of 37-year-old Jessica McGraa was discovered

at a flat on Union Terrace on Friday afternoon.

Bala Chinda, who's 25, was charged with murder and theft.

He made no plea and was remanded in custody.

One person is believed to have died in a two-car crash in the Highlands.

The collision happened this evening on the A836 near Thurso.

Police say the road remains closed and local diversions are in place.

The task force set up to minimise the effect of the closure

of Texas Instruments in Greenock has met the American owners

More than 350 jobs will be lost over the next three years if a buyer

I am disappointed they have made the final decision to close the plant

but we are very much committed to finding a prospective buyer. I think

there's a clear commitment there to find a buyer.

Several secondary schools in West Dunbartonshire will be

closed tomorrow because of a teachers' strike.

It's the second stoppage by the EIS in just over a month.

The dispute is over plans to reduce the number of principal teachers.

Andy Murray's baby daughter has been named Sophia Olivia.

The tennis star didn't disclose the name when his wife,

Bookmakers are already offering 500-1 that little Sophia will win

Clear skies tonight, chilly. Lovely picture from one of our weather

Watchers in Fife. But red skies by night, Shepherd 's delight tomorrow.

But tonight it is cold and frosty. The rain we saw last night, still

affecting parts of the UK. As the colder Dixon, wintry times. The odd

flaky end there but I do, for most of the UK, dry, cold and frosty. As

we head through towards tomorrow morning, plenty of dry weather

around but showers coming in toward the west and north-west so a risk of

ice. But for many, a dry and sunny start, a crisp February morning.

These are the temperatures at 8am. Towards the west coast, milder. For

many though, a dry sunny start Thursday morning. AQ showers up

towards Orkney and Shetland 's and the winds occasionally fresh. As we

head through the course of Thursday, we hold onto that theme of showers.

Elsewhere dry bright. The best of the sunshine for the north-east and

south-east. Westerly winds driving one or two showers towards Edinburgh

and five times. As we look across the UK as a whole, plenty of

sunshine for England and Wales. Just to hang back, the overnight cloud

and rain affecting East Anglia in Kent. In Scotland, those showers,

wintry at times, the old rumble of thunder, one or two showers pushing

through the central belt as well. Overnight, clear, cold and frosty

but thickening cloud and arriving rain. On Friday, fairly wet. The

cloud builds and the rain arrives. Wintry across the hills on high

ground. By afternoon, that weather front clears, so just AQ showers.

Highs of seven or eight.