Police searched Jay Hope’s home after a neighbour reported he had a gun.

Thirty-three-year-old Hope appeared from custody at Jedburgh Sheriff Court on Friday and admitted having an air pistol at his home in Beattie Court, Hawick, on October 8.
Having previously received a 22-month jail term, Hope had been banned from having a firearm until five years after his release date.

“A neighbour was invited to his home and he took him into a bedroom, opened a chest of drawers and showed him a handgun,” explained depute procurator fiscal Tessa Bradley, adding: “The man, who had some military experience, perceived the gun to be real, so reported the incident to police.”

Officers called at the house with a search warrant and found an air pistol.

Robert More, defending, said his client was “not aware of the statutory provision” prohibiting him from having a firearm for five years after his release date.

“He says he was given it as a gift by his then partner in October 2010. He lived in the countryside until 2000 and used firearms for vermin control and shooting at targets,” said the lawyer, adding: “He says there was no ammunition for it.”

Mr More said Hope had co-operated fully with police, giving them the air pistol which was locked in a cabinet.

Sentence was deferred until March 15 for reports and Hope, who is currently living in Edinburgh, was released on bail.

A FORMER soldier who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan was fined £300 after being caught with heroin and cannabis in Galashiels.

Steven Brunton, 36, of Pirniefield Place in Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to possession of both substances when he appeared from custody before Sheriff Derrick McIntyre at Duns last week.

Prosecutor Kate McGarvey told the court that police officers stopped Brunton’s car in Magdala Terrace at 9pm on August 22 after having concerns about the way it was being driven.

The officers searched the vehicle and found a foil wrap, hypodermic needles, heroin valued at £20 and cannabis worth £7.50 in a glasses case.

Ed Hulme, defending, said Brunton was undertaking a methadone programme in an attempt to tackle his drug habit and was “very disappointed with himself for giving into temptation and relapsing”.

His client, who served his country for 12 years, was travelling from an electrician’s job in the north of England at the time of the offence.

Police stopped a driver after he narrowly missed an oncoming car and found he was more than three times the alcohol limit.

Twenty-nine-year-old John Cooper, of Main Street, Roslin, appeared from custody and admitted driving a car on the A72 between Innerleithen and Peebles on Sunday with a breath/alcohol reading of 110 mcgs – the legal limit being 35. He also pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice by trying to consume tablets at Peebles police station.

Kate McGarvey, prosecuting, said police saw the vehicle attempting a “faltering” three-point turn, adding: “They followed it and noted it was being driven erratically. It was stopped when it narrowly avoided an oncoming car.”

At the police station, Cooper “made a grab for some tablets and tried to take some before the breath test was taken”.

The Crown moved for forfeiture of the vehicle, estimated at £1,500. Sentence was deferred for reports, until March 20.

Cooper was released on bail and banned from driving meantime.

REGULATOR Ofcom has launched a consultation on two options for the future of ITV’s news broadcasting in the Borders.

It comes as part of a larger consultation on TV broadcast licences, looking specifically at programming obligations.

For the Border licence, Ofcom has published two alternative proposals to increase the amount of regional news and current affairs programming in the area, aimed at enhancing the coverage of Scottish issues.

Ofcom was asked by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to carry out research into the preferences of Border viewers for regional news late last year.

The consultation is open until May 2 and can be found on the Ofcom website.

For the full story see next week’s Southern Reporter.

Angered to find the price of a reserved television had risen, Gordon Taylor accused supermarket staff of being useless, demanding to speak the manager.

He then “squared up” to the manager and pushed him on the chest with both hands.

Taylor, 49, of Killiecroft, Tweedbank, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the Tesco store in Paton Street, Galashiels, on October 1.

Prosecuting, Kate McGarvey told Monday’s sitting of Selkirk Sheriff Court how Taylor went to the supermarket at 12.30pm to collect a television.

“It was more expensive than when he had reserved it, and he became aggressive and asked to speak to the manager,” explained Ms McGarvey.

Told that the manager would speak to him when free, Taylor said that when he got hold of the member of staff who had dealt with the original order, he would grab him by the throat. Taylor shouted at the manager and continued with his aggressive behaviour.

“He referred to staff as f*****g useless monkeys,” continued Ms McGarvey.

He was asked to leave the store, and retorted: “What are you going to do about it?”

Ms McGarvey said: “He then squared up to the manager and pushed him on the chest with both hands. He was told that he was going to phone the police, and the accused said, ‘Do you think I’m f*****g scared of the police?’.”

Defending, Ross Dow said his client was embarrassed about his behaviour and wished to make a public apology.

Mr Dow went on: “He reserved a television two days earlier and when he went to pick it up, the price had gone up considerably.

“He began talking to a member of staff in a civilised manner, but he felt the member of staff wasn’t interested, so he asked to speak to the manager. He then became frustrated by their disinterest in the whole situation.” Mr Dow said Taylor had commented: “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”, adding: “He accepts he completely overreacted.”

Fining Taylor £280 and banning him from the store for three months, Sheriff Kevin Drummond said: “For your medical problems, you are due every sympathy, but that does not entitle you to take out your frustration on people serving the public.”

POLICE have charged an 18-year-old Cardrona man with fireraising after the village store’s notice board was set alight in June last year.

A report has been submitted to the procurator fiscal.

NHS Borders has been asked to apologise to the family of an elderly patient who died one day after being discharged from Borders General Hospital.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman upheld complaints that the man had not been thoroughly assessed or treated when he first attended the BGH in October 2011.

He was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and given painkillers and antibiotics, but was readmitted later the same day and died the following morning of a ruptured blood vessel in the abdomen.

The ombudsman also recommended NHS Borders apologise for taking too long to respond to a complaint from a woman surrounding the care of her mother, who suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS).

Read more in next week’s Southern.

THE chairman of a common riding committee has told TheSouthern that bank balance figures reported by Scottish Borders Council bear no relation to the actual funds held and could affect fundraising attempts, writes Adam Drummond.

The figures were produced for a meeting on January 31 by the council’s business consultancy unit as part of a report on local festival funding grants.

In the report and associated appendices the figures showed that Lauder Common Riding Committee had over £44,000 to spend as of November last year.

However, the chairman of the organising committee has revealed that the figures are wildly inaccurate.

Ian Fallas said: “The figures published by the council bear absolutely no relation whatsoever to what the true figures are. We thought it was a misprint.”

He added that at their AGM in November the committee had just over £22,000 at their disposal, half the total stated in the SBC report.

Sections of the report, and associated figures, featured in an article in TheSouthern on the allocation of grant money to local festival organisers.

“The council are now wanting to print a retraction and apologise,” said Mr Fallas, who added: “They don’t know where they got the figures from.”

The council report stated that the figures, showing year-end balances from 2009/10 to 2011/12, were taken from approved festival committee accounts.

Mr Fallas said he feared that the publication of the inaccurate figures could hit fundraising attempts in the town this year.

“Throughout the year we rely on fundraising events, like quiz nights or casino nights, as well as the general collection boxes, but now it has been advertised that we have supposedly got £44,000 in the bank, people will be more reluctant to give their money.

“We’ve told folk it is a load of nonsense,” he added.

With basic costs for the common riding alone standing at £10,000, and a bill for around £12,000 to put on the annual ball, Mr Fallas said the committee had ‘very little leeway’ for unexpected costs, or if the event suffered from bad weather.

“Costs are rising, so we have to fundraise even harder,” he added.

“There is only so much money out there. Things are challenging for everyone in the Borders and there are so many other organisations chasing the same pound, so you can’t justify going to the same people, asking for more and more money.”

Mr Fallas said he understood from the council that Lauder was the only festival to have suffered from the wrong figures being reported.

An SBC spokesman said: “Lauder Common Riding Committee has contacted us regarding some incorrect information. We have traced this back to an appendix that was issued with a public report for the council’s executive committee on December 4 last year.

“We now acknowledge that there is a mistake in the figures given for their end-of-year balances for the past three years – which were wrongly listed as being between £44k and £46k.

“We have apologised to Lauder Common Riding Committee for this oversight and will correct this in any future paperwork.”

The mistake has been put down to human error.

SBC gives Lauder a £3,300 grant each year to help with the running of the common riding, from a total pot of more than £82,000 for local festivals.

The winner of our competition to win a pair of tickets to the Scotland v Ireland 6 Nations match at Murrayfield on Sunday is Iain Riddle from Invergowrie.

Thanks to everyone who entered.

Look out for more competitions on this website.

THIS weekend’s racing is really the last chance to assess any potential Cheltenham festival horse before the big event itself takes place in just over a fortnight’s time.

A horse I am keen to keep an eye on is Quantatativeeasing, entered in the Racing Plus Chase at Kempton this weekend and a hose well worth keeping in mind for the festival.

As I write he is around the 20/1 mark for Saturday’s big race but I’m not sure he will turn up now that his owner JP McManus has just purchased the race favourite Wyck Hill. If Quantatativeeasing does run I would definitely give him an e/w chance.

If he doesn’t run I would confidently nail my colours to Rolling Aces’ mast. He’s only a 3/1 chance but his form is solid.

Another horse I rate highly called Hadrians approach. He is in my mind as a major RSA Chase contender at the festival and is still available at 14/1 for that particular race. From an ante-post perspective I think that is generous as he really has no other target at the festival and there are still doubts surrounding the first two in the market.

Over in Ireland an old pal of mine attempts to lump top weight round in the Bobbyjo National trial. I rated Quito De La Roque as a Gold Cup horse last year and expect him to show his class at Fairyhouse.

I’m not really one for the all-weather, but a horse who jumps off the page is Planteur in Saturdays Lingfield Winter Derby trial he really is different class to the opposition and is a confident selection.

Selections

Rolling Aces: 3/1 Racing Plus Chase Kempton.

Quantitativeeasing: e/w 20/1 if he runs Racing Plus Chase Kempton.

Quito de la Roque: Bobbyjo Chase Fairyhouse.

Ante-Post selection: Hadrians Approach 14/1 RSA Chase Cheltenham.festival.

Following an auction and whip-round at their Xmas Shoot, Braidwood Sporting Clays were able to raise £614 for Maggie’s cancer charity.

Pictured at the presentation of the cheque are, from left: Lucy Black, Joyce Black (from Braidwood), and cancer surviving mother and daughter Natalie Edington and Sylvia Dawson, who also raise money for the charity.

WITH only four games left to play in the store-age.org.uk Borders Snooker League Hawick Conservative Club, are almost out of sight following a victory over their closest rivals last week.

Results: Hawick Con A 4 Hawick Burns A 2; Innerleithen 4 Selkirk A 2; Border Club 5 Hawick Con B 1; Hawick Burns B 3 Jedburgh Legion 3; Selkirk B 4 St Boswells 2.

League Standings: 1, Hawick Con A 75; 2, Hawick Burns A 63; 3, Hawick Burns B 57; 4, Border Club 54; 5, Jed Legion 48; 6, Selkirk A 46; 7, Selkirk B 30; 8, St Boswells 29; 9, Hawick Con B 26; 10, Innerleithen 22.

Elsewhere, the qualifying rounds for the Hawick Burns Club-sponsored Border Snooker Pairs competition was taking place around the region.

Competitors played in a straight knock-out competition with games being the best of three frames.

Group stage winners: Venue 1 (Jed Legion), R. Bell and D. Halfpenny; Venue 2 (Selkirk Conservative Club), G. Kinnear and A. Hogg; Venue 3 (Hawick Burns Club), L. McAllister and M. Riddel; Venue 4 (Hawick Conservative Club), D. Amos and D. Clark.

Winners of each venue go through to the semifinal/finals day at Hawick Burns Club, on Sunday, March 24, noon for 12.30pm start, dress code applies, best of five frames.

THE final of the Abbotsford Bowling Club handicapped singles took place last week when Tommy Mann Jnr (1) played John Hardie (4).

Mann caught the weight from the first end and raced into a 10–4 lead, but Hardie fought back with four shots over the next three ends to pull the score back to 10–8. Mann then regained control and with the score at 15–10 with one end to go there was no way back for Hardie, who performed well in his first year indoors.

Walkerburn were the visitors on Friday and an excellent night was had by all. The home rinks both had wins while in the pairs final I. Duncan and J. Hunter beat N. Ormiston and L. Ormiston.

The quiz night this Saturday starts at 7.30pm with entries taken on the night.

GALASHIELS

John Scott (Plumbing & Heating) Galashiels Seniors: Winter League: Winner, R. W. Scott nett 34.

KELSO

Winter Texas Scramble: 1, A. Chalmers, G. Fairgrieve, M. Ford, R. Glendinning 56 (1.3) 54.7; 2, T. Pringle, K. Hush, M. Brydon, E. Wilson 63 (6.2) 56.8; 3, D. Brotherstone, J. Graham, B. Ferguson, P. Young 66 (8.1) 57.9.

MINTO

CLAIRE OLIVER, fundraising manager for the Margaret Kerr Unit at the BGH, received a cheque for £205, raised by Minto members at a recent charity event, from the club’s Albert Thompson, pictured right

JANUARY’S round of the Borders Badminton League was cancelled due to bad weather, so local players were keen to get going again on Sunday.

Hawick consolidated their place at the top of the table with a hard-fought victory over Jedburgh, but title holders Berwick are now breathing down the necks of the leaders following their convincing victory over Duns.

Results: Duns 1 Berwick 8; Hawick 6 Jedburgh 3

Border Badminton League

P W L F A Diff

Hawick 4 3 1 21 15 +6

Berwick 4 2 2 23 13 +10

Jedburgh 4 2 2 17 19 -2

Duns 4 1 3 11 25 -14

Next match Sunday, March 17

THE Tennis Borders Winter League started on Sunday under bright blue skies that would not be out of place in the summer.

For St Boswells Tennis Club, the opening day of the 2013 season brought mixed results, with an away win for the first team and a home defeat for the seconds.

St Boswells I got rid of some early-season rustiness against Duns II, but not before the home side’s men’s double pair of Andrew Watson and Ricky Amos inflicted a match tie-break defeat on the Villagers’ Lewis Armstrong and Adam Drummond.

The Duns pair took a 4-1 lead in the first set thanks to some unerring groundstrokes and crisp passing shots, and then held on despite a spirited comeback from Armstrong and Drummond.

Having established themselves towards the end of the second set, the visiting pair dominated the second, but a couple of unforced errors midway through the match tie-break cost them the rubber. On the adjacent court, Toni Lemmon and Lynn Bruce blew away the cobwebs with a 6-3 6-0 victory over home pair Liz Dixon and Fiona Hodge.

Lemmon then teamed up with Armstrong and took on Dixon and Watson, dropping just five games on their road to victory.

Bruce and Drummond also secured a comfortable win over their opponents with a 6-2 6-2 success.

St Boswells II were on the receiving end of a 3-1 rubber defeat at the hands of Peebles, however.

The home side was made up of Hilary Jackson, Linda Geddes, Matt Tile and Charles Strang.

For more information on the club visit their website on
www.stboswellstennisclub.org.uk

z Send your winter tennis league reports to fiona.scott@jpress.co.uk

REIVERS A took command of the Borders Pool League last week, thrashing Ship B after two bad results, while High Level A looked dangerous while denting Ship A’s challenge in the process.

Waverley A lost their recent momentum going down to the Fleece while the top game of the week saw Reivers B outpoint Dryburgh, both teams playing off the back of some great recent form.

In Division Two, Station stay top, closely followed by Bridge B and Nikis, both recording good wins after Station edged local rivals Waverley B. Bridge A won a thriller last frame to edge luckless High Level B.

Results – Division One: Reivers A (Gala) 7 Ship B (Melrose) 2; Ship A (Melrose) 3 High Level A (Hawick) 6; Fleece (Selkirk) 5 Waverley A (Hawick) 4; Dryburgh (Newtown) 3 Reivers B (Gala) 6.

Division Two: Waverley B (Hawick) 3 Station (Hawick) 6; Bridge B (Gala) 9 Frankies (Hawick) 0; Nikis (Gala) 7 Red Lion (Kelso) 2; High Level B (Hawick) 4 Bridge A (Gala) 5.

IN section one of last week’s Agrii Border league, both front runners suffered defeats in very close games, writes Alastair Lindsay.

Swinton went down 6-3 to Roxburghe and Yester 3-4 to Greenlaw, who have now leapfrogged into the lead by two points.

In the section two game, Ayton Castle had a 6-6 peel with Kelso, who along with Earlston, St Boswells and Lees, are in joint second spot behind Coldstream.

So, in the closing stages, there is much to play for in both sections.

Following the opening round of the Dickinson Trophy Coldstream I, Greenlaw I, Duns and Swinton will battle it out in section one while in section two Chirnside, Earlston II, Lammermuir and Foulden II are the contestants. The semis and final will take place tomorrow, book now for early seats.

Last Friday, a unique event took place in the form of the Border Union Bonspiel, involving all Border Show societies, Discussion groups, NFU, as well as old Uncle Tom Cobley and all. When all was done and dusted, the Glendale Show rink won under the guidance of James and Joan Dixon, Border Union came second and leading sponsor Agrii were third, with suitable feeding and merriment to wind up the evening.

The 20th Marie Curie Bonspiel was a busy one-day event on Saturday, with a slightly reduced number compared to previous times, but if width was lacking, quality was there.

A certain D. Brown had looked an early runaway winner, but in a later stage all was lost and newly returned Canadian tourist Jim Cullen took the honours.

An enjoyable evening meal was had and Tommy Grieve’s entertainment ensured a successful way of finishing the night.

SEVEN young rugby teams demonstrated some good running rugby at the annual Borders primary sevens rugby tournament played on the back pitches at Netherdale on Saturday.

Gala Mini Maroons and Kelso Cougars reached the final by winning all of their group games and treated the large support to a great show on the main Netherdale pitch prior to Gala’s league game against Dundee.

Winners, the Mini Maroons, were presented with the David Loughton Memorial ‘Lofty’ Cup and medals by Sam and Cara Loughton.

The cup was presented for the first time in 2006 in memory of David (Lofty) Loughton who died in October 2004, age 39 after a long battle with cancer.

Gala youth development officer Ian Millar told TheSouthern: “Lofty was a great friend to many in the rugby community throughout the Borders and will always be remembered for his outstanding good nature and as a player who always demonstrated the true meaning of good sportsmanship.

“Once again this was showed by all teams who took part in what has become a regular fixture at Netherdale.

“The club would thank the Loughton family for their continuing support for this annual tournament and to all who helped make it a successful day.”

Participating teams: Gala Mini Maroons, Kelso Cougars, Langholm Lions, Selkirk Rhino’s, Melrose Hornets, Jed, Hawick, Berwick.

Mini Maroons squad: Charlie Edwards, Alex Caldow, Todd Philip, James Steel, Max Logan, Scott Stoddart, Glen McCrum, Ian Gueldner, Lloyd Gillies, Robbie Johnstone, Kerr Smith, Josh Dougall, Fergus Johnstone, Cammie Finlayson, Angus Dunn.

VOTING has been fast and furious over the last month as the Borders public get behind their favourite sporting achievers.

And, with only a week to go, TheSouthern can reveal that almost 5,000 votes have been cast in the Inspiration, Personality and Team of the Year categories for the inaugural Borders Sport and Leisure Celebration of Sport Awards.

Back in December, a specially-selected panel of experts, chosen by the organisers, consisting of BSL senior sports development officer John McBay, Scotsman journalist David Ferguson, former editor of the Border Telegraph and freelance rugby writer Atholl Innes, Radio Borders sports broadcaster Stuart McFarlane and myself, on behalf of TheSouthern, put their heads together and came up with nine worthy candidates, three in each category, to go forward for public vote.

Since opening the phone lines in January there has been a steady stream of votes and in some categories things are very tight indeed. Border Sport and Leisure marketing manager Emily McGowan told TheSouthern: “We are really overwhelmed by the response and it has been really exciting watching the votes come in.

“There is no time for complacency, though. We have a week left and everything is still to play for.”

For the panel also, there is still work to do.

As well as the public vote categories, a shortlist of nominees in three other categories were also revealed from which the panel will determine the final winner.

These are: Event of the Year (Jim Clark Rally; Tour of Britain; Jedburgh Running Festival); Club of the Year (Gala Harriers; Peebles Cycling Club; Peebles Netball Club); Coach of the Year (George Graham, rugby; Peter Gardiner, judo; Alex Jordan, swimming).

Additional awards include Junior Sports Personality of the Year, Scottish Borders Disability Sport Group Performance of the Year, Inductee to the Scottish Borders Hall of Fame and Unsung Hero Award.

The winners of all of the categories of the Borders Sport and Leisure Celebration of Sport Awards will be revealed at a special evening ceremony at the MacDonald Cardrona Hotel on Friday, March 1, hosted by renowned TV presenter and sports journalist Alison Walker.

As well as being the first female football voice on radio, Alison enjoyed an eight-year stint presenting the sports news on TV’s Reporting Scotland. She’s been lucky enough to interview hundreds of sports stars and latest highlights include Michael Phelps and Pele at London 2012.

At next Friday’s event she will be putting her talents to good use when quizzing guests, such as SFA Development Officer Jim Fleeting and our own Paralympic medalist Libby Clegg.

Alison told TheSouthern: “It’s great to be part of the Borders Sport and Leisure Celebration of Sport Awards, it promises to be a memorable night.

“It is hugely important to recognise and celebrate the achievements of our athletes in what has been a fantastic last nine months or so of sport.

“Sport is riding high currently, and the momentum is building towards the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Awards evenings like this play their part in inspiring others to work hard and follow their dreams.”

Limited tickets are still available for the event at £30 each and can be purchased by contacting Borders Sport & Leisure on 01896 756274. The ticket includes drinks on arrival, and a sumptuous dinner, followed by the awards ceremony.