21/10/2016 Reporting Scotland

Scottish Government plans to set a minimum price for alcohol

The Court of Session in Edinburgh has ruled against a challenge

to the legislation from the Scotch Whisky Association.

It claimed the plans were a breach of European Law.

The ruling now paves the way for the Scottish government

It's four years since it was passed in Holyrood -

where ministers argued it would save lives and reduce crime.

Steven Godden was at the Court of Session.

often troubled relationship with alcohol,

?5 is enough to drink more in a week

Those who deal with the consequences of problem drinking

believe minimum pricing is the best way to tackle it.

What minimum pricing targets is the cheapest,

strongest alcohol, which is precisely the alcohol that is drunk

by the people who end up in our hospitals

and who end up dying from alcohol-related causes.

It is not about your bottles of wine,

it is about cheap cider, cheap supermarket vodka.

A minimum price of 50p per unit would ensure a bottle

or cheap, strong cider could double in price.

MSPs approved the policy in 2012, but a court challenge, led

by the Scotch Whisky Association, stopped it in its tracks.

After four years of legal argument,

here at the Court of Session in Edinburgh and

at the European Court of Justice, the ruling boiled down

to one key question - would increasing the tax

on alcohol be as effective as minimum pricing -

when it came to protecting people's help?

Today, the panel of three judges ruled it wouldn't

Obviously, we regret the ruling today, we believe

it is a barrier to trade and not the most effective way to deal with

But we will decide on it before the next steps.

It has the overwhelming backing of Parliament and we need to move

it will save lives and the evidence points us in that direction,

so I would hope it does now spell the end of the legal delay.

An appeal to the UK Supreme Court could be launched

within the next month, but the Scottish Government said today's

Their aim, to make minimum pricing a reality as quickly as possible.

The man accused of murdering an Inverness-born policeman may have

cooked and eaten parts of his body, a court has been told.

The remains of 59-year-old Gordon Semple were found

when investigators searched a south London flat.

They discovered his DNA on cooking utensils in the kitchen

who denies murder but admits dismembering

Two people have been charged with human trafficking

The arrests took place in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh.

A 40-year-old man and 32-year-old woman

will appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court next month.

The charges follow a day of action by police to target trafficking.

Police in Suffolk have released new CCTV footage

of the missing Scots RAF man Corrie McKeague.

He vanished after a night out in Bury St Edmunds

This last confirmed sighting of the Dunfermline airman shows him

in the town at half past three in the morning.

A 21-year-old man has been sentenced to seven and a half years in jail

for causing the death by dangerous driving

of 57-year-old Marie Laurie from Glasgow.

Steven Bennie had been driving at speeds of up to 80mph

as he was followed by police in the East End of Glasgow,

when he hit the taxi Mrs Laurie had just got into.

This family have lost a mother, wife, a grandmother, because

Marie Laurie was all of these things and more.

They came to court hoping for a sentence which might begin

It is never enough, compared to what we have lost,

but we got enough for us to be happy today.

Marie Laurie was killed and her husband seriously injured

when Steven Bennie crashed his car into the taxi they had just got into

Steven Bennie, 20 at the time, was being followed by the

police and driving at high speed when he drove through a red light

The judge jailed him for seven and a half years.

On sentencing, Lord Boyd said to Steven Bennie that Marie Laurie

had been returning home with her husband from her son's wedding,

one of the happiest days of her life,

he said, and in an instant, that life was gone.

He said it was difficult to imagine a more serious level

You had no licence, he said, you weren't insured,

you had taken alcohol, he didn't stop when the police

signalled to you to do so and you reached

You had even turned your headlights off,

It was the wedding of her son Martin that Marie Laurie was on

her way home from and although the two events

are now intertwined, he says he can't dwell on Steven Bennie

He is just a boy that had a bad experience

To be honest with you, he could be ruined for his life as well,

As I say, I do not want to be filled with anger.

The first anniversary comes next month.

I will never forget those two days of my life.

You always remember your wedding day, it's the highlight of your life

and to lose your mum the next day in such tragic

it's going to be tough for the whole family, you know?

Everybody was there, they had seen the happiness,

The operators of the Fort William aluminium smelter have confirmed

they're in negotiations to sell the plant.

The operation employs around 170 people and is one of the largest

There have been local fears that a review by owners Rio Tinto

could lead to the closure of the factory, but it's

believed the discussions could lead to its being sold

with housebreaking and dangerous driving

as part of police a crackdown against motorcycle theft

and anti-social behaviour in Edinburgh.

The two males aged 17 and 18 were arrested yesterday and appeared

The Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Ross Murdoch,

has lost his top podium level of funding for the Tokyo

Instead he drops to what's called "podium potential", after missing

out on a place in the 100m Rio Olympic final.

There are four Scots named in the elite Podium category.

They are the Olympic relay silver medallists Stephen Milne,

Duncan Scott and Dan Wallace, along with the three times Olympian

and multiple international medallist Hannah Miley.

Let's get the weekend weather outlook now, from Christopher.

A fairly settled day of weather today and tonight little in the way

of change. Largely dry but with a view showers edging in from the

North Sea affecting the eastern part of the country. A ridge of high

pressure keeping most of the country dry and settled. It could be a

chilly start in the Central Highlands with a patchy fog. It's an

East West split tomorrow. Eastern areas cloudier than the West. That

pattern repeated across the UK. It is always eastern parts that will be

cloudier. Sunnier towards the west and south-west, central southern

England as well. Dry and bright for Northern Ireland. They're in mind,

with the easterly breeze, showers could come over to Central parts of

the country. Lanarkshire, Stirlingshire, Perthshire and parts

of Tayside. A beautiful afternoon across the Northwest. One or two

showers towards Orkney and Shetland at times. Patchy fog and showers

heading into wards the Borders later. Sunday, little change.

Low-pressure staying away. Eastern areas more likely to see some cloud.

A further west you are, try and brighter with some sunshine.

A further west you are, try and Temperatures down a notch or two.

Monday, all the same. An East - West split. Where we have the cloud, one

or two showers. Our next update is during Breakfast

at 6.25 tomorrow morning. But, from everyone on the late

team here in Glasgow and around the country

- good night.