02/05/2014 Reporting Scotland

Tonight on Reporting Scotland: Three men, cleared of stabbing this

Lanarkshire waiter to death 16 years ago could stand trial again. Surjit

Singh Chhokar's family hear the Crown apply for a new prosecution.

A review of the long-term care of chronically ill people says they'll

have to pay their own care home costs.

Scottish police are in the Philippines in an operation against

a blackmail ring making 58 arrests. One of the group's victims is

thought to be this Fife teenager. Late and way over budget but a

date's finally set for Edinburgh's new trams to carry their first

paying passengers. Join me later in Belgium as Black Watch veterans

gather to honour those from their regiment who fell in the First World

War. Also tonight: just one game left,

just one trophy to win. Three teams still have a chance of winning one

promotion place to the Premiership. We preview helicopter Saturday.

Good evening. Three men who were cleared of the

murder of an Asian man in Lanarkshire almost 16 years ago

could stand trial again. Surjit Singh Chhokar was stabbed to death

outside his home in Overtown in November 1998. Despite two trials no

one has been convicted of the murder. Now the Crown is to apply to

the High Court to allow a new prosecution under double jeopardy

legislation. Catriona Renton reports. For 15 and a half years,

this family have been looking for justice for their son. Today they

came to the Crown office to hear about developments in the case.

Surjit Singh Chhokar was 32 when he died. He worked as a waiter. On the

4th of November, 1998, he was stabbed to death in the street

outside his house in the Overtown part of town. Three men, Ronnie

Coulter, his nephew Andrew, and a third man, David Montgomery, Wall

tried and acquitted of his murder. -- were all tried. They blamed each

other. Scotland's top prosecutors met the family. Following changes to

double jeopardy rule is, the same people can be tried again for the

same offence and they have applied to the court for a retrial.

Parallels have been drawn between this case and that of the murdered

teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993. Two men were convicted in his case

following changes to the double jeopardy rules. Following the

changes, the family gave the statement: The Crown will make an

application to the appeal court and a double jeopardy legislation to

bring fresh proceedings for murder against three men. There still

remain significant legal hurdles to overcome. 15 long years after he was

murdered, people may have forgotten his name but his family never gave

up hope for justice. Now it will be up to three judges to

decide whether the Crown will be allowed to read prosecutors the case

of Surjit Singh Chhokar. -- to prosecute.

A review of the long-term care of chronically ill people has

recommended that they should not have their care home costs paid by

the NHS. It means people who need a high level of nursing care will have

to pay their care home costs in future. Our health correspondent

Eleanor Bradford is here. Firstly, do we know how many people are

affected? We know it affects around 5% of people who are currently in

care homes. If you have a high level of care needs, your care should be

paid for by the NHS. That is in addition to the free personal care

that everybody gets already. The BBC has revealed that the number of

people getting all their care costs paid has been inexplicably falling

in Scotland and rising in England. That led to a review of the system.

What did the review find? It reaffirmed what we have found. A

postcode lottery. People not eligible. What it recommended was

that from next year nobody in care homes should get all of their care

home fees paid by the NHS. And the reasoning? The report says anyone

needing this level of care should be in a hospital anyway but that is at

odds with what happened in England, where it is recognised that people

with this level of care can be cared for in a nursing home. I spoke to an

expert lawyer today who says he thinks this could be illegal. If you

are already in receipt of continuing care, this particular benefit will

always continue, it is just new claimants that are affected.

Scottish police officers have been taking part in an Interpol led

operation in the Philippines against an online blackmail syndicate. 58

people have been arrested. One of the group's victims was Fife

teenager Daniel Perry who died after being targeted by them. Our home

affairs correspondent Reevel Alderson reports. Filipino police

raid a call centre in Manila, but this is no ordinary commercial

operation. It is on an industrial scale, shown on a board on which

bonuses are posted, they have targeted vulnerable people online

before befriending and blackmailing them after persuading them into

compromising situations. This raid followed the death of 17-year-old

Daniel Perry, who fell from the Forth Road Bridge. He was a victim

of the gang and his computer records helped Interpol track them down. The

investigation into the death of Daniel has focused attention on the

really serious consequences of some of the activity that has been

uncovered as a result of the operation. It is not a victimless

crime when we are talking about terms like extortion. It is serious

criminality. Daniel's mother issued a statement:

Police from Hong Kong, Australia, the US and Singapore, where victims

are also known to have been targeted by the gang, were involved as well.

The rage discovered call centre style booths used by operators. The

scale of this extortion is massive and it was run with one goal in

mind, to make money regardless of the terrible emotional damage

inflicted on the victims. No matter where criminals carry out their

crimes and try to hide behind the anonymity of the internet, law

enforcement is equally determined in the efforts to track them down and

bring them to justice. The seized computers will now be examined to

identify any more additional victims in the UK.

Aberdeen City Council has revealed it's changed its process for the

cremation of children. Since last November the authority says ashes

have been recovered in all cases and returned to the parents. It follows

a damning report into the Mortonhall crematorium in Edinburgh. Kevin,

what has the council been saying? All along the council has been

emphasising that what happened in the building behind me in recent

years is very different from what happened at Mortonhall. There are,

ashes were kept and disposed of without the consent of parents. Here

the council says the parents did not get the ashes because they did not

exist. They have got a furnace that burns on such a high temperature

that there are no ashes left at the end of the process, just a small

quantity of dust which escapes through a flu in the machinery and

into the atmosphere. But they have visited a crematorium elsewhere in

the country and they have followed the practices there, which allow

them here to retain some sort of ashes, and since November last year

they have been handing over those ashes to bereaved parents who want

them. The council's leader says they have done that to provide some kind

of extradition or bereavement service for those parents affected.

There will be regrets there perhaps. We have tried to be honest with

people as well about the situation, and we have been honest in the past,

just as we are now. Well, the solicitor for some of the families

affected by what happened here have issued a statement. They say that

they hope that the statement from the council today signalled the

beginning of a more compassionate and open position by the council

towards bereaved parents. Thank you.

Edinburgh's new trams will carry their first paying passengers on

Saturday 31st May. But there's still no word on when a long-awaited

public inquiry may happen into why the project is so late and so

heavily over budget. Our transport correspondent, David Miller,

reports. They are ready to roll and Edinburgh's long-suffering citizens

don't have much longer to wait. This has been an exceptionally long

journey for the people of Edinburgh and the trams are not even running

for real yet. Last we now know that Saturday the 31st of May will be the

day when paying passengers can get on board for the very first time.

But other politicians in charge of the project expecting any credit

from voters? No. I understand and I understand as a resident who has

chosen to live here for the last 35 years and brought up my family, that

the people of Edinburgh have been very frustrated because we are over

in terms of budget and time. The timetable has not been delivered.

Along the tram route, opinion is divided. They have spent ridiculous

sums of money multiple times over, digging up the same streets again

and again. I am not interested. As a capital city, we need a tram system.

The whole journey has been long but they think it turned Edinburgh into

a modern city. An inquiry has long been demanded. Can I ask the First

Minister in light of new information regarding the Edinburgh tram project

whether he agrees with me that the time has come to instigate a full

public inquiry? But will it be delivered? I am supportive of a

public inquiry into the project. Today ministers would say only that

they are willing to consider an inquiry. They want the focus to be

on a smooth launch to the tram service.

It was a tin of Scottish Labour to launch their campaign to the

European elections today. Tasty treats to encourage people to

come at lunchtime. The way to people's heart is through the pocket

so promises about jobs and wages during this tour of a Glasgow

college. Some places here are funded by the EU, one of the benefits of

working in partnership and cooperation with the UK and Europe,

say Labour. European Union has been very for Scotland. We can see the

benefits of working in partnership right across Europe. Calvin College

has benefited from European funding and we want to make sure that we

send voices to Europe that will stand up to Europe for Scotland. Red

in tooth and claw, there is also an attack on the SNP in the beauty

salon. They have been compared unfavourably with idle for Raja and

UKIP. -- with Nigel Farage. Indeed, the referendum fight is firmly in

the limelight. So why bother with these elections when turnout is

traditionally low? Even more important than the previous European

elections, these will determine the shape of the Parliament and the next

European Commission as well. It determines who controls the

Parliament and the executive as well, which will really matter in

terms of delivering rights for our consumers and jobs for our people

and decent conditions in the workplace. The tour of the College

ends on the audio department. Labour hopes you will like the sound of

their message on polling day. They are hoping to get three MEPs rather

than two. Hundreds of mourners have attended

the funeral of the former Rangers and Scotland player Sandy Jardine.

Among them were Sir Alex Ferguson and current Rangers manager Ally

McCoist. Through the streets of as native Edinburgh, a live final

journey from a man whose loss has been keenly felt. Around 1000

mourners attended. A winner of the leaks and cups aplenty at Rangers,

the defender gained hero status at both Ibrox and Tynecastle, when he

played for and managed Hearts. John Gregg, the captain of the team that

tasted European success helped carry the coffin. He will be remembered as

one of the greatest ambassadors in the game. He was a wonderful player,

but warned no grudges after the game was finished. He had been battling

cancer but was not one to complain. Let us remember him for all his

great qualities. To finish, a rendition of a favourite song.

. Organisers of this summer's

Commonwealth Games in Glasgow are releasing an additional 100,000

tickets for what Hundreds of Black Watch

veterans have travelled from Scotland to Belgium to pay tribute

to members of the regiment who fell in the First World War.

They will attend the unveiling of a statue in an area in the north of

the country known as Black Watch Corner. Our reporter Andrew Anderson

is at the Menin Gate, near the town of Ypres. A very Scottish flavour to

the service tonight. The men from the Black Watch came to pay the

respects. A lament for the fallen. This is one of the many war

cemeteries in this part of northern Belgium. It contains thousands of

graves of Scottish, English, Welsh and Commonwealth soldiers who fell

during the First World War. Today, veterans of the Black Watch were

amongst those playing the respects. There are many ex-soldiers for whom

there is no grave. There is a major Scottish event to commemorate the

centenary of the war breaking out. Sandy 's grandfather served with the

Black Watch and came home. It is great sadness when you see all the

gravestones, all these young boys. It is quite emotional. 9000 Black

Watch soldiers were killed, along with thousands of others from other

regiments. In their honour, the statue of the Black Watch sergeant

will be officially unveiled tomorrow. It will stand and what is

known as Black Watch corner. The Prussian guard tried to break the

line and had they succeeded, it would have reached the Channel ports

and the war itself would have been lost. The name of the Black Watch is

held in high regard in this part of Belgium.

Let us go to sport now and David has got some bling.

I have got the SPFL championship trophy with me, because it will be

looking forward to a thrilling last weekend in the title race in that

division. First, some financial news regarding

Rangers. Former commercial director Imran Ahmad is going back to court,

seeking to have more than ?500,000 in the club's account frozen. Sandy

Jardine Field in a similar bed in February. Now, with doubts

now there are doubts as to whether they could period should he win the

legal battle. Back in February, the judge reached his decision on what

he called the psychological nature of the football club 's finances.

They have to satisfy the court of the ability to trade, which could

have devastating consequences. Now, to the race to land this little

beauty. It could be in the hands of any one of three teams tomorrow when

the Championship title race is concluded. This is all you need for

a helicopter Saturday. Steve will deliver the championship trophy to

one of three clubs. The does Dundee, second place Hamilton or

third-place Falkirk. If Dundee when I want to Dumbarton, they are

champions, and even a draw could do it. It should be a great atmosphere

tomorrow. The players have been ready this week, we have kept the

focus. Hopefully, we can be crowned champions. If Dundee lose, the

helicopter will be hovering over Hamilton. We have had a good season.

We are not finished yet. But it will be flight path Falkirk if Dundee and

Hamilton both lose. If the defeat ally, the need to also overhauled

and the unit and these goal difference. We are obviously relying

on the other is to lose, but we have to take care of her own business and

our own game. Whatever his destination, the supporters of all

feature on clubs will be looking eagerly.

Now, a look at what else is happening across Scottish sport.

Celtic's assistant boss Johan Mjallby may be heading for pastures

new at the end of the season, but the Swede reckons manager Neil

Lennon is staying put. He is under contract and I do not see any reason

why he would leave. He has not told me anything about that.

Glasgow Warriors' Pro12 play-off place is guaranteed. Wins in their

remaining matches against Treviso tonight and Zebre next weekend

should cement a home tie in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Glasgow plays host to the World Series Rugby Sevens this

weekend. Scotland have group games against USA and Spain, after a tasty

opening match with Australia. We need to put down a marker on that

first game. We need to concentrate on ourselves and if we do that, we

will have something to a map. And for more on all the latest sport

stories, you can check out the BBC Sport Scotland website. Are we going

to get some good news, regarding the weather?

There has been some nice sunshine around, but not for all of us. As

you can see, that cloud has covered much of the west of the country. For

tonight, for all others, called, but drive. The temperatures will be

following away. Overnight, the temperatures in some rural areas of

the campaigns, dropping down below zero. Tomorrow morning, you can see

this band of rain beginning to engine from the Atlantic. It will

begin to arrive here in the early afternoon. High temperatures

tomorrow of 12 or 13 Celsius. But some sunshine in the north-east of

the country, once again. Rather chilly in Shetland, only eight

Celsius. So, for hill walking tomorrow. Perhaps wet weather

pushing and across the Perthshire hills as we push through the

afternoon. For the inshore waters: the rest of the afternoon into the

evening, the rain continues to travel from West to East. It will be

a fairly wet night on Saturday into Sunday. Looking into Sunday, the

high-pressure across the United Kingdom means that we will have a

mixed picture. Sunny skies at times, but rain never too far away.

15 Celsius. On bank holiday Monday, that is not simple either. Fairly

cloudy and should be mainly drive for many people, with temperatures

reaching 16 Celsius. That is all for us for no. I am back just after the

mean ten o'clock news.