22/12/2016 Reporting Scotland

Severe disruption expected for the Christmas getaway,

as the country braces itself for Storm Barbara.

The weather has been horrendous, this is my last chance of getting

way to get my shopping done. We watched the forecast and made plans

around that. We'll be live from the

Highlands with the latest. A political row, after a spending

watchdog says Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority

are facing a ?190 million Connecting more Scottish

homes and businesses to superfast broadband,

the UK government announces Scottish scientists create

a black hole in the lab, as they try to prove it could be

a huge source of energy. And as climbing is named an Olympic

sport, a new facility opens in Perth to help Scottish hopefuls rise

to the challenge. As Scotland prepares

for the Christmas getaway, it s also Ferries to the Northern and Western

Isles have been cancelled. Some train services for tomorrow

have also been cancelled. And travellers are being urged

to get away today, or wait On the Clyde coast the ferry to

Rothesay was working normally this afternoon much to the relief of

those travelling. My last chance of getting away to do my shopping

today, got away and got it. But it looks like tomorrow will be much

more challenging. It is highly likely that they will be

cancellations on this route and other cloud roots tomorrow. Some

services have been cancelled already, others will be reviewed

throughout the day so their advice is keep checking their website for

the latest updates. On the railways teams will be standing by to clear

storm debris from the lines but some West Coast travellers hoping to head

home by train for Christmas will have an early start as ScotRail is

suspending the most exposed roots from the morning. On the Clyde line

and the open and we are suspending services from 11 tomorrow morning to

2000 hrs tomorrow night. We ask all customers to check the website

carefully, check what journeys you have and make alternative

arrangements were possible. We will reimburse tickets that have been

bought and can't be used. Here is Stormer Barbara, bringing high winds

and also snow on higher ground so driving conditions especially on

roads like the A nine currently testing. Plan more time for your

journey, let someone know when you are likely to be at your

destination, make sure you have a fully charged mobile phone and some

warm clothing with you so that you are safe and prepared should you

come into some difficulty. They certainly prepared in the food sense

and Shetland, nine massive certainly prepared in the food sense

containers of festive food arrived by ferry today, with one more boat

do before Christmas they are leaving nothing to chance. With planned

ahead, got the stock in early, we'll have more than enough for everyone

until Christmas Eve so no need for anyone to panic. A reminder today

from the Kirk to put comfort and safety even before worship with the

weather doing its worst, churches like this one in Falkirk streaming

their services so you can join online from your living room. From

the comfort of your own home but you can get a sense of joining in not

only with the worship and the service but perhaps with your

only with the worship and the friends as well, you can see them as

well. Not quite the same as being their but you still get that sense

of being part of something. With Stormer Barbara will bring up travel

problems and might in by the tree may be very welcoming when you

finally reach your destination. Aileen Clarke. Reporting Scotland.

Our reporter Craig Anderson is in Ullapool for us this evening.

It seems almost like the calm before the storm here, if you can call

showers of snow, sleet and hail and 50 mile an hour winds calm but as

you can see behind me the Christmas lights may be on that no one is at

home at the Ullapool ferry terminal. The last ferry for Stornoway left

one hour ago and they won't be another leaving here until about

10pm on the morning of Saturday, Christmas Eve. That's because

tomorrow this route has been completely cancelled and that is the

same picture up and down the west coast, in the Hebrides and the

Northern Isles as well. There's also expected to be serious disruption to

airline services in the Highlands and Islands, Loganair were asking

any customers that want it to fly if they wanted to advance their tickets

and fly today to do so and we talked to many people at the ferry terminal

who had hastily rearranged their plans and made a mad dash to

Ullapool to get to the islands for Christmas because tomorrow basically

is a No- No. We heard again about rail disruption tomorrow and we also

know it will be barred on the roads. The message to everyone who wants to

trouble tomorrow is, go in the morning, it will be very bad in the

afternoon. -- everyone who wants to travel. Thank you.

The public spending watchdog says Police Scotland

and the organisation which oversees it, the Scottish Police Authority,

are facing a funding gap of almost ?190 million by 2020-21.

Audit Scotland says there is continuing concern about their

accounts. But the two organisations

say they're working Scotland's national police force and

the authority that holds it to account are two of the countries

most high-profile bodies but no serious questions are being asked

about how they are managing their annual budget of ?1.1 million. This

report published by the public spending watchdog says that although

Police Scotland and the Huw Williams have existed for three years they

both suffer from poor financial leadership. The auditor general says

that is not acceptable. I think one concern has been that the focus of

day-to-day is keeping data date releasing going at the focus of the

reform is making sure it is sustainable for the future given the

financial and crime pressures and faces. The report dominated question

time at Holyrood. Scotland is staring down the barrel of a ?190

million budget deficit, we've heard all before. In response the First

Minister indicated the UK Government 's refusal to accept Scotland from a

VAT bill. Ruth Davidson won't have any credibility talking about police

until she backs us in telling the Tory colleagues in Westminster to do

the right thing and stop taking money out of the pockets of our

police service. Away from Holyrood the Huw Williams said it was taking

action. We acknowledge fully. Our standard of book-keeping could have

been improved and we agree with the auditor on that point and we have

taken steps to address that matter, some have already been taken. Police

Scotland declined our request for a broadcast interview but in a

statement is seared through the Scottish Police Authority David

Page, the deputy chief officer, said the force was committed to ensuring

that the financial management of the police budget was of the highest

standard and would continue to work to ensure that the appropriate

resources were in place to improve capacity and capability and make

sure the this is addressed. That is likely to go down well with the

auditor General, after three years of asking she is now expecting

results. Andrew Black, Reporting Scotland, Edinburgh.

A man has been convicted of murdering his former partner

Heroin addict Steven Jackson dumped Kimberley MacKenzie's remains

at a number of locations in the Angus town of Montrose.

A woman has been found guilty of helping him to dispose of the body.

Kimberly McKenzie repeatedly battered and stabbed by her former

partner Stephen Jackson. Afterwards as she laid dying he went to buy

heroin with Michelle Higgins, the pair captured on CCTV in Montrose

town centre. There's an element of drug addiction to the crime, but

let's be clear, nothing would allow for that level of brutality that's

been dished out to Kimberly McKenzie and caused her death. The next day,

Jackson cut up Kimberly's body in the bottom of the flat and then she

and Michelle Higgins dumped body parts in bins around the town and in

another house. The murder, described by police as brutal and callous, led

to a complex investigation, parts of Montrose sealed off, bin collection

suspended while officers carried out detailed searches. During the five

week trial the two accused blamed each other, Jackson convicted of the

crime, Higgins found guilty of helping him dispose of the body.

Kimberly is the mother, sister, her family have clearly been affected by

these events and having to listen to the dramatic story unfolding through

the trial, our thoughts are firmly with her family. Police say the

crime traumatised the community of Montrose, that was underlined today

by the judge, who told Jackson and Higgins that what they had done was

horrific and depraved. They will be sentenced at the High Court in

Liddington in January. Huw Williams, Reporting Scotland.

The former Rangers owner Craig Whyte has pled NOT guilty to two charges,

including one of fraud, in relation to his purchase

Mr Whyte's lawyer entered the plea during a hearing at the High Court

A trial is scheduled to begin in Glasgow next April.

An extra ?18 million to deliver superfast broadband

to some rural parts of Scotland has been described as disappointing.

It represents only four per cent of a ?440 million investment,

announced today by the UK Government for Britain.

Willie Johnston reports from one community where

the broadband is more snail's pace than super-fast.

A typical picturesque village and parish in rural Galloway close to

ages and with a pub, school and community hall there are many

reasons to want to live in Borgue but broadband connectivity is not

one of them. It depends what time of day you access it. On a good day

they get speeds of 4 megabits per second while some neighbours

struggle with 1 megabit, not enough, he says, to thrive, even survive in

21st century Scotland, both socially and economically. Farmers, local

businesses, individuals who want to continue doing things in the local

area, they increasingly find that they need to have decent broadband

and they can't do it. I know of a number of examples of

people who would like to be working here, who have the IT skills but

haven't got the infrastructure. The UK Government says the cash, which

comes from efficiency savings and from money clawed back by the

supplier BT will collect more Scottish homes and businesses by

getting fibre connections into their Scottish homes and businesses by

communities. This is money being used to upgrade cabinets to make

sure we have the latest technology in them so that there is access to

superfast broadband. But the Hollywood Minister says the amount

earmarked for Scotland is not sufficient. Very much on the low

side, if the Barnett formula applied there would be a far higher share,

would there not? A concern shared in Galloway by one campaign. People

often overlook this part of the world and I think economically we

are important and we should really support local communities so ?80

million doesn't seem an awful lot. Reporting Scotland, Borgue.

It could be the energy source of alien civilisations,

but until now it's been beyond mere Earthlings.

It's called the Penrose Mechanism - the theory that huge amounts

of energy could be harvested from a spinning black hole.

Now researchers at Heriot-Watt university in Edinburgh

are trying to prove it works by building their own black hole.

Our science correspondent Kenneth Macdonald has

Somewhere out there there are black holes. You cannot see them because

not even light can escape. It might help if you think of a black hole is

a giant cosmic train, the enormous gravity associated with it sucks

everything down plughole. Well, not quite everything and that is where

things get interesting. Almost 50 years ago the physicist Roger

Penrose theorised that some objects might be split in two as they

skimmed past a spinning black hole. One half will be swallowed, the

other will be thrown clear and pick up energy from the

spin of the black hole. Waves like light would also be amplified but

until now no one striped to prove it in a lab. What we have here is a

laser system and over there you can see a component where we are

actually twisting the light and then this twisting light spinning like a

vortex goes through our material. Happily for Edinburgh this is not a

real black hole, it is simulated using twisting light yet the

principle is the same. We are collaborating with another

university, they are working with water draining down a hole. We at

Herriot Watt are using light, laser beams that can be twisted into a

vortex, and the idea would be that small waves hitting the vortex would

be amplified, send small waves in, get big one side and you can use

them to harvest energy. It has taken four years to build the black hole

and now researchers aim to show that funding works in the real world. The

beauty of this physics is that it is so general, so generic that it can

be applied to almost everything. There's something magical about

rotation, rotating objects seem to behave differently from objects that

are not rotating. The and black holes remained theories for decades

before experimenters proved them right, the Penrose mechanism could

before experimenters proved them be next and we won't have to go near

a real black hole. Kenneth MacDonald, Reporting Scotland,

Edinburgh. Severe disruption expected

for the Christmas getaway, as the country braces itself

for Storm Barbara. we meet

the deaf chef who's risen The football league authority says

it'll investigate whether some players are being paid less

than the minimum wage. The SPFL and the Scottish FA

were appearing before a parliamentary committee

investigating player welfare. But the SFA admits it doesn't

have the manpower to check whether illegal player contracts

are being registered. Those that run football here are

used it facing the scrutiny of fans and the media. Today, it was the

turn of politicians here at Holyrood, to ask serious questions

about how they govern the game. In front of the petitions' committee,

the group who dissect petitions from the public, both the SFA and the

SPFL, faced heavy questioning over club's treatment of players and

especially how they'd know if clubs were breaking employment law. To

date this year, a process in excess of 18,000 transactions, they do not

consider the terms of the contracts. So, I just want to make that clear.

We absolutely are not aware, I was not aware of that issue. . ... A

contract that is ale illegal? Under the registration, you can, yes.

Under what circumstances would that be defined as a registration scheme,

worthy of its name? Well, we do not look at the terms of all the

contracts? Is this something you are going to change? We have no

immediate plans to change the registration system. That's a

position that angered some of those present. If these contracts and if

young people have been taken advantage of, in the way they appear

to be taken advantage of, obviously the legality has to come into it as

well. If that's the case it should be the responsibility of those

highest up in the organisations that have to pay a price of this attitude

of complete lackadaisicalness, when it comes to the well fair of young

footballers. The SPL has written to clubs reported to be playing less

than the minimum wage, and there has been a promise to investigate fully

but football faces more scrutiny now than ever before and a political

will to hold those to account, who are running the game.

Laser technology is being used across Scotland

to help prevent power cuts during the winter weather.

As Storm Barbara prepares to bite, the country's two electricity

companies have revealed they've spent more than ?80 million

in the past year upgrading the network.

Our energy correspondent, Kevin Keane, reports.

They crisscross our landscape, bringing heat and light to our homes

and businesses, weaving through trees that threaten to bring them

down. This technology combines innovative airborne mapping

techniques. This year a plane has innovative airborne mapping

been taking to the sky to laser map the electricity cable network T

creates a 3D image of Scotland, identifying which trees pose the

greatest threat. The accuracy is down to 2 cms in some situations, we

can understand where our lines are in terms of relation to trees, we

understand how high they are off the ground, whether there are any other

buildings that have been built into the line over the last year. The

next job after that is to trim them back or chop them down. That goes

back to good old-fashioned elbow grease.

On this golf course in West Lothian, the team is running the full length

of the line. So these guy also go along this electricity table,

cutting back the foilage from either side and of course because it begins

to grow back immediately they'll do it on rotation and be back here

again in three years. In 2013, one of the fiercest of recent winter

storms meant Aaron and many other parts of southern Scotland without

electricity for long periods. ScottishPower which serves central

and southern Scotland says it's reduced its average reconnection

time over The Passion five years, from 88 minutes to 65, critical, say

some charities. If they are vulnerable to picking up some

ailments in the winter where they are not able to keep warm, that can

have a greater impact on their health and dramatic it might sound

actually can lead and we do see an increase in deaths in the winter

amongst older people. SSE and ScottishPower both have rolling

programmes to improve the distribution network. Resilient

already, they say, to gusts of up to 80 miles per hour.

Climbing is to be an Olympic sport at the next Games in Tokyo in 2020.

And in an effort to provide world-class facilities

for Scottish hopefuls, a new indoor facility is up

Its aim is to challenge climbers, no matter their level of expertise,

Jamie still rises to the challenge of climbing. In 1999 he lost both

hands and feet to frost bite after an accident where he was stranded on

a mountain summit for five days. Now, 17 years' later, he still loves

his sport and believes its Olympic inclusion will have a positive

effect. Hill walking, mountain climbing and orren tier something

one of the more participant sports in the whole country and it is

growing and with climbing coming up as a competition sport in Tokyo, it

is only going to get bigger. Lowering you down. It is as yet

undecided if climb willing make it into the Paralympic Games but would

Andrew chase a place on the British team? I would be delighted to be

involved but not as a competitor. I'm past the age where I want to

start devoting that much time to getting involved in competitions.

There are over 90 different climbing routes of various grades at the new

Perth facility. Scottish champion, William Bosie, believes it is a

training venue where he can work towards his newly-available Olympic

dreams It's a big difference having places like this, in the training

area they have got at the back, because the walls that they have are

broader, they are amazing, so getting these walls now here is

really good, a really big step in the right direction. Whether you are

William Bosi, Scotland's up-and-coming young climber or

someone like me with amputations, you can always find

somethingchanging at the right level.

From beginning, to owe livian, the Perth College Climbing centre will

be open in the new year. -- to Olympian.

It's a hectic time of year for restaurants and hotels

and head chef Bruce Pirie runs one of the busiest in Scotland.

He's overcome a disability to rise to the top of his profession.

It's hotting up in the kitchen at this hotel resort in Perthshire. At

the centre of it all, executive chef the centre of it all, executive chef

, Bruce Pirie. He has been run kitchen here since 2012. He doesn't

hear much of the noise, though, he is profoundly de. He began his

career back home in new zae in the early '80s I started pot washing in

1982. I moved on to breakfast and then made apprenticeship. I may have

found it a little hard to understand Bruce, those who work with him,

though, have no such difficulty. I don't see any difference,

communicating with Bruce now, than to anybody else. Both on a work

level and a personal level. Bruce overseas a team of 45 chefs. His

kitchen produces around 1,500 meals a day and Bruce is there keeping a

close eye on it all. From dish washer, Bruce Pirie has risen to the

top of his profession. He's been Scottish Chef of the Year three

times now. I think he tries harder. When you put something in front of

him and he has a disadvantage. He works harder. He is one of the

hardest workers I have ever seen. I think what Bruce is saying, is he

never found it an issue, for Bruce himself, he has lived with it and I

think other people, it takes maybe two or three weeks, a month to

understand everything he is saying. And for those of us daunted by the

prospect of preparing Christmas dinner on a much smaller scale,

Bruce Pirie and his team, make it look so easy.

Indeed. Some very strong weather heading towards us. My graphics are

not working because of this very strong weather. There is lot of data

on the graphics. But for tonight at least we'll expect some wintry

showers to continue across the far north-west of the country. Across

the east, some clearer spe.s under clearer skies it'll turn chillin

deed. A touch of frost in some places and maybe icy stretches but

it is the calm before the storm. Across north-west by the early

hours, we'll start to see thicker cloud, outbreaks of rain pushing

through and also the strengthening winds. Now the strengthening winds

will continue throughout the day tomorrow. We do have Met Office

weather warnings in force across the country. A yellow, be aware weather

warning is in force across Scotland. Gusts widely of 60 to 70. But the

second, be prepared amber warn something in force from midday

tomorrow across the very far something in force from midday

north-western fringes of the country, so the Western Isles, with

Skye as well, the northern fringes and up to the Northern Isles but

later on in the day there will be a band of heavy rain making its way

across the country door the middle part of the day. Some very squally

winds, causing difficult driving conditions across the central belt,

too, during around lunch time and the early part of the afternoon. But

this will clear through, so by the end of the afternoon, we are looking

at the rain, mainly across the borders but still remaining windy

throughout the day. The strongest winds I can canning off across the

far north later on in the eepg, so tomorrow evening is when we'll have

the gusts reaching up to 80 miles per hour, storm-force winds. There

is the potential for structural damage, damage to the power supplies

as well and as you have heard so far on the programme, cancellations for

the ferries and some travel disruption, too. So the strongest

winds, Friday night. As you look ahead to Christmas Eve itself there

will be a bit of a respite. Still a very windy day, very strong winds

indeed. Wintry showers continuing, too, especially across the

north-west and again with thunder, lightning possible as well in

between the showers but brighter spells in between and considering

all, that tomorrow, Saturday is the better day for travelling because by

the time we reach Christmas Eve night and the start of Christmas

day, we're expecting another area of low pressure heading towards us.

This won't be as intense as storm Barbara. We have strong winds in

store, especially for the far north and we're expecting exceptionally

mild air. Christmas day itself, by the time we reach the afternoon, we

could reach highs of 15 Celsius in the north-east. Potentially record

breaking but there is a chance, once we get cold air plunging in later on

in the day, of wintry showers, too. Lots to keep up on.

Apologies for the absence of the weather graphic there. A reminder of

the main news: It is as we have heard, Scotland is preparing for

storm Barbara to hit. Ferries to the northern and Western Isles have been

cancelled and some train services for tomorrow have also been

cancelled. That's reporting for tomorrow have also been

Scotland. I'll be back after the late bulletin after the Ten

will come up and say, there is 10p. You know the person who