The South of Scotland rugby team will this year be competing in two major Sevens tournaments during the close season.

Also, a Development Squad, composed mainly of youngsters, will be fielded for the first time.

Fraser Harkness and Darren Cunningham will be in charge of the squad for the inaugural Edinburgh 7s tournament which takes place on Saturday, June 2 at Inverleith. The tournament has attracted a high quality of elite teams made up of some of the top 7s players on the circuit.

The South will also be taking part again in the Chester 7s tournament on June 16.

The Development side will take to the field at this Saturday’s Walkerburn 7s and will include two senior players, as well as eight of the most talented youngsters in the South of Scotland.

Andrew Skeen is captain of the South team, while Nik Stingl will lead out the Development side at Walkerburn.

Head coach Fraser Harkness said: “Keeping alive The South name is important and, with 7s being such a huge tradition in the area, it is good to be able to send a team to these prestigious tournaments, as well as bringing on new boys to experience the culture of the South. Everyone who wears the South jersey knows how special it is and the history that goes with it.”

The South Development Squad have been drawn against Ross High in round one of the Walkerburn 7s on Saturday and, if they progress, will face the winners of the tie between Barnton and Hawick Linden, two clubs who have performed well in the East League this season.

The following week, at the Edinburgh 7s, the South squad will be in one of two pools of four, playing against the EC7 Powerbombs, Rex Club Red Kites and Team Tusker.

The South Development Squad for the Walkerburn 7s on Saturday, May 26:

Nik Stingl (Kelso, captain), Callum Renwick (Hawick U18s), Ryan Cottrell (Selkirk YC), Cammy Brown (Kelso Harlequins), Andrew Mitchell (Hawick U18s), Lewis Ferguson (Hawick), Connor Gillon (Kelso), Iain Davidson (Selkirk YC), Ross Combe (Hawick),Fraser Harkness (Jed-Forest).

The South squad for the Edinburgh 7s on June 2:

Andrew Skeen (Kelso, captain), Ally Grieve (Melrose), Callum Marshall (Selkirk), Bruce Colvine (Melrose), Lewis Young (JedForest), Darren Clapperton (Selkirk), Robbie Chalmers (Edinburgh Accies), Rory Marshall (Jed-Forest), Ross Combe (Hawick), Callum Young (Jed-Forest), Ross Nixon (Selkirk).

For both, coaches are Fraser Harkness and Darren Cunningham, with team manager Neil Hinnigan.

Cardrona’s Ellie O’Hara continued her record-breaking form at the recent Scottish Athletics East District Championships at Grangemouth.

She took gold in the under 17 triple jump with a new Scottish Under 17 open-air record, to add to the indoor record she set in Glasgow in March. Ellie extended the record to 11 metres 86 cms, a distance which put her third in the UK rankings at the very start of her two-year age group.

The Peebles High School pupil, who is coached by Linda Nicholson and Bryony Paterson,has recently been added to Live Borders Athlete Support Programme and looks sure to benefit from the access to specialist support services.

Ellie also took gold in the long jump with a new personal best of 5.49 metres, and silver in the 100 metres with a new pb of 12.67 seconds, putting her second in the Scottish rankings in both disciplines.

Ellie’s training partner and fellow Peebles High pupil, Imogen Lewis, also had a superb weekend in the under 15 age group at the same championships.

Imogen took gold in the 300 metres, winning the final by over a second with a time of 41.86, which was three tenths of a second outside the championship record, and put her at he top of the Scottish rankings.

She followed that up with gold in the triple jump, with a distance of 10 metres 43 centimetres, again taking her to the top of the Scottish under 15 rankings.

It was a great start to the outdoor season for both athletes, who will be looking to continue developing and improving as the season progresses.

He was as handy as anyone at catching oval-shaped balls in his day, and now Borders rugby legend Doddie Weir has proved to be every bit as successful as having balls of a different kind thrown in his honour.

A ball in aid of the former Scotland international’s motor neurone disease research charity held in Kelso in January was initially thought to have yielded around £250,000, but now all the money raised by the event has been collected, it turns out that it has topped that already-remarkable total by more than £60,000.

The fundraiser, named the Tartan Giraffe Ball in reference to the 47-year-old’s bent for wearing tartan suits and late rugby commentator Bill McLaren’s likening of the lock forward to the earth’s tallest land mammal, was organised by his friends Stewart Bennet, Douglas Stephen and David Baird after the British and Irish Lions player revealed he had been diagnosed with MND in late 2016.

All 500-plus tickets for the Springwood Park event sold out in next to no time, helping it raise £310,177.

“We have experience of friends or family who have suffered MND, and when Doddie’s diagnosis was confirmed, we felt it was a good opportunity to invite people across the Borders to come together and help tackle this terrible illness,” explained Border Union Agricultural Society chairman Mr Stephen .

“We all know Doddie well and his famous on-field work ethic has been to the fore off the field in the way he has sought information about MND and gone out of his way to raise money to fund research.

“All we did was organise another opportunity for that, and the Borders people took it from there.”

Weir, capped 61 times for Scotland between 1990 and 2000, said: “I am absolutely blown away by how much the lads have raised.

“The event itself was a fantastic, unique night that brought big rugby and farming communities together, but the amount of money raised is down to the incredible efforts of Dougie, Stewart and David, who, I think, spent every waking hour persuading people to donate auction prizes.

“I take my hat off to all who helped in any way and thank them from the bottom of my heart. There is no doubt that this will help hugely in our battle to find a cure for MND.”

The event attracted 180 auction lots including the use of two private jets, sporting memorabilia and agricultural machinery.

Hosted by TV presenters Jill Douglas and Dougie Vipond, the ball was attended by many of Weir’s former Melrose, Newcastle Falcons and international team-mates, including Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend.

“It was a special, one-off event that attracted incredible support,” added former Kelso rugby player Mr Bennet.

“The amazing quality and quantity of donations are what took the tally raised well beyond what we imagined was possible at a wee Borders event, but we also have to thank main sponsors M and J Ballantyne and the Craigie Hotel in Penicuik, who stepped up to the plate to help us make the event happen, the other six key sponsors that ensured it went ahead – Crop Services, Agri, Greenvale, R Manners and Sons, Harrison and Hetherington and James S Baird and Sons – and our host, the Border Union Agricultural Society. Without them, this would only have been a dream.

“As much as this will hopefully make a big difference to MND sufferers, the Borders community has shown what Doddie means to them.

“Ultimately it was a love for the big guy that pulled people to this and generated over £300,000.

“I think it’s a form of payback for all that he has done for us, for the Borders and Scotland.”

Ends.

Selkirk has commemorated the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War with the installation of a striking outline of a British Tommy at the war memorial.

The evocative 6ft silhouette of a British soldier was purchased from the national There But Not There campaign, thanks to funding from the town’s Rotary club, Fleece Bar and Kitchen, the royal burgh’s casting associations, the Coulson family and other Souters. The statue did a tour of the town on Sunday before being installed at the war memorial garden.

Organiser David Deacon, chairman of Selkirk Ex-Soldiers Association, said: “I believe this is the first Tommy in the Scottish Borders and installation is in time for Selkirk Common Riding.

“Further events and activities are planned later in the year around remembrance which are intended to involve the wider community of Selkirk.”

The patron of the campaign, Baron Richard Dannatt, said: “The poppies at the Tower of London captured the start of the national First World War commemoration. There But Not There will be the abiding concluding image.”

Find out more at www.
therebutnotthere.org.uk

Selkirk Royal Burgh Standard Bearer Peter Forrest helped maintain the close relationship between Galashiels and Selkirk last Friday.

Peter and his attendants met Greg Kelly and Kimberley O’May, the Galashiels Braw Lad and Lass for 2018, at Galafoot, and the two towns’ representatives joined a good number of supporters on horseback to meet up with Galashiels Ex-Service Pipe Band.

The principals then drank from a stirrup cup, courtesy of Gala YM, outside the burgh chambers.

The horses and riders then completed a tour of the town centre before the celebrations continued at the Royal British Legion in Galashiels, where a Gala Souters’ Association dinner took place.

Peter told us: “It was fantastic to meet with Greg and Kimberley, and there were plenty of Selkirk folk lining the streets alongside Gala people. It’s what it’s all about for me.”

Greg and Kimberley are in action again tonight for the gathering’s Threepwood rideout, which leaves Netherdale at 5.45pm by way of Winston Road, taking in Melrose Road and the road towards Langshaw, before heading cross-country to the Threepwood crossroads to meet the Lauder Cornet and his party at 7.15pm.

Presentations are made to the principals by Lauder Ex-Cornets’ Association and Galashiels Ex-Braw Lads and Lasses Association, before the mounted cavalcade heads back over the hills to Lauder.

An investigation into the deaths of 16 swans found at Fairnington Loch, near Kelso, in December has shown that at least five of them were killed by lead poisoning.

However, just how the swans were poisoned remains a mystery, as does where they ingested the lead.

The grim discovery of the whooper swan carcasses was investigated by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland and, in a bid to avert further such deaths, South Scotland Labour list MSP Colin Smyth last week raised the matter with Roseanna Cunningham, the Scottish Government’s cabinet secretary for environment, climate change and land reform.

He wrote to her “to ask the Scottish Government what cause of death was determined in relation to a group of whooper swans found dead in the Fairnington area of the Scottish Borders in December 2017 and January 2018”.

The minister replied: “Five of the 16 recovered whooper swan carcases found dead were identified as having died from lead poisoning as a result of ingesting lead of an unknown type and that they had not been shot.

“The cause of death for the remaining 11 whooper swans was not identified, although, as they were found in exactly the same set of circumstances, it is highly likely they suffered the same fate.

“However, this could not be confirmed during post mortem due to the advanced state of decomposition in most of the carcasses.

“It is not possible to say where and when the swans ingested the lead. It is understood the swans migrated from Iceland to the UK for the winter and the lead could have been ingested anywhere on that journey or before, during or after.

“There is no evidence to suggest the swans ingested the lead over a wetland area, although this remains a possibility. There is no wildfowling undertaken at the location where they were found.”

Mr Smyth then asked what steps the Scottish Government is taking “to ensure there are no repeat episodes”.

Ms Cunningham said: “Given that the causes of death were inconclusive, there is no guarantee that any steps the Scottish Government takes would prevent a repeat scenario.”

The manager of St Margaret’s Care Centre in Hawick has been charged following reports of “inappropriate communication”.

The exact nature of those communications has not been disclosed.

While six staff members were suspended, pending investigation, in October and November last year when the allegations were first made, the facility’s manager, Shona McHutchison, 49, is so far the only person to be charged.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Following a multi-agency investigation into reports of inappropriate communication involving staff at a care home in Hawick, a 49-year-old woman has now been charged and will be reported to the procurator fiscal.”

The home, just off Myreslaw Green, was built in the early 1900s as a Dominican convent, and provides both nursing and residential care for some of the region’s most vulnerable adults.

It is run by St Philips Care Group, based in Wolverhampton.

It declined to comment on the latest development in the investigation.

The competition will be hot both on and off the track at Kelso Racecourse this Sunday, May 27, when the sun is forecast to shine on Ladies’ Day.

The final race day of Kelso Racecourse’s season is one of the most valuable, with more than £100,000 of prize money on offer.

t also attracts the largest crowd, as racegoers vie for the attention of the judges of the ‘Best Dressed’ competitions.

In addition to the Best Dressed Lady, there will be prizes awarded for the Best Dressed Couple and the Best Hat.

Finalists for each of the three competitions will be selected from the crowd, early in the afternoon, by the judges representing the competition sponsors – A. Hume Clothing, Colourful Edit and Fox & Plooms Handbags, Dryburgh Abbey Hotel and Karen Reid Designs.

The £25,000 feature race of the seven-race programme is the Ayton Castle Handicap Steeplechase, over three miles, at 3.50pm.

Trainer Peter Bowen looks set to make the 10-hour journey from Wales with Court King, while the Penrith-based Nicky Richards will be hoping that Looking Well can make amends for a disappointing run in the Scottish Grand National last month.

Donald McCain has enjoyed an excellent winter at Kelso and has pencilled in both Beach Break and Middlebrow for the first race on the programme, the Border Facilities Novices Hurdle – a race he has won twice in recent years.

Oak Vintage, trained in Northumberland by Ann Hamilton, has gone up 9lbs for his impressive all-the-way victory over fences at Kelso’s last meeting two weeks ago. He could be ready to take advantage of his lower rating over hurdles in the third race, named in honour of the sponsor’s grandchildren.

Pauline Robson’s Uluroo was second over hurdles at this meeting last year and has since won a point to point in Ireland for East Lothian owner Ray Green. He will be a popular choice for the fifth race on the card, the Elliot Henderson & Son Plant Hire Novices Handicap Chase.

This year’s renewal of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Open Hunters Chase will be the first to be run without the patronage of Major General Ramsay, who died on December 31 and was the instigator of this race.

Drew Holmes won the race four years ago with Beggar’s Velvet and bids for further success with Pass The Hat. Emma Toddhas has been booked for the ride on unbeaten point to pointer Shimla Dawn by trainer Christine Drury.

While it is anticipated there will be many fine fillies parading in the enclosures throughout the day, the final race has been specifically framed to attract the fastest!

The Five Star Taxis Mares National Hunt Flat Race boasts a prize of £12,500, making it one of the most valuable races of its kind in the country. Stuart Crawford’s Irish yard could be double-handed with the recent Carlisle winner Lily’s Gem and Retrace.

Perhaps the most fascinating entry is the unraced Barbados Blue, for recently-crowned champion trainer Nicky Henderson. The Lambourn trainer has saddled three winners from his five most recent runners at Kelso.

The first of the seven races is due off at 2.05pm, with the gates opening at noon.

The final of the Best Dressed Lady competition will be judged at 3pm, the Best Dressed Couple at 3.30pm and the Best Hat at 4pm.

The final race is scheduled for 5.35pm and racegoers will be welcome to stay on, until as late as 8.30pm for musical entertainment and dancing in the Pavilion Marquee.

The racecourse management is working closely with Police Scotland, which is urging racegoers to avoid drinking and driving by nominating a driver or pre-arranging a taxi for the end of the afternoon.

Borders boxer John McCallum is waiting excitedly to hear who his next opponent will be, after a triumphant return to the ring at the weekend.

John is hoping for an eliminator, or possibly even a crack at the British light-heavyweight title, after defeating Duane Sinclair in a top-of-the-bill bout in Glenrothes.

He put the London fighter down twice on his way to taking each of the four rounds and declared himself delighted to win the sell-out contest, after an 18-month absence from boxing through injury.

John (27) is hoping his manager Steve Goodwin can line him up next in London against stablemate Frank Buglioni, or even UK champion Callum Johnston, and is waiting to see what materialises.

Dublin-born John, who has a degree in finance, divides his time between Galashiels and Melrose. He has stepped up a division to light-heavyweight, having fought previously at super-middleweight.

“I won the fight quite easily,” he said. “It was good – I walked into a packed sell-out crowd. The demand was high, it was a great atmosphere and the support was unreal.”

Opponent Sinclair had more experience, more knockouts and a weight advantage over John, so it was a big test to see how he would acquit himself. “I handled the occasion very well,” he said. “I came out with not a mark on me at all.

“He was an awkward southpaw who did everything to survive. He kept holding on for dear life. It was good to get four rounds in after 18 months out but I was guilty of going looking for the knockout from the first bell, to try and please a sold-out crowd. If I had taken a step back and given myself a bit more space, and stuck to my boxing, I would have stopped him.”

The night turned out to be a big test of patience and concentration as well. One of the previous fighters required hospital treatment and John’s bout could not go ahead until the medical staff had returned to the arena. So, despite having donned his gloves and done his warm-up for a 10pm scheduled fight, John did not box until half past midnight. Afterwards, there was a dash through to Edinburgh to be with daughter Scarlett on her sixth birthday.

John added: “Glenrothes was a chance for me to re-establish myself and a chance to fight on my trainer’s (Stevie McGuire) promotion, a one-off. Victory has put the excitement and life back into me.”

Some of the top Borders rugby players of the last half-century and more, who had the privilege of being selected for the British and Irish Lions, have received a ceremonial cap.

As members of the 1888 Club, the ex-Lions were given a one-off, hand-stitched cap, bearing the unique playing number awarded only to players who have played competitively in the famous jersey.

The gesture also coincided with the 130th anniversary of the first British and Irish Lions game, against Otago in Dunedin, in April 1888.

Local festivities included a special evening at Kelso RFC clubrooms, where five former players were honoured.

However, one of them, John Jeffrey, reckoned playing for Scotland was still a greater honour than donning a British and Irish Lions kit.

Jeffrey was joined by Ken Smith, who played for the Lions in the 1950s, plus Roger Baird, Alan Tait and, from the present day, Ross Ford.

The celebration was organised by Kelso committee member Scott Forbes and the players took part in a Q and A session with the audience of over 200.

Asked which meant the most to them – Scottish or Lions recognition – Jeffrey said: “This means a lot to everybody who has been part of the Lions and there is no doubt it was a great privilege to represent the Lions. However, when you ask me if this is more important than my first Scotland cap, I have to say it is not. Pulling on a Scotland jersey for the first time is still the greatest memory in my career – but that takes nothing away from how special it is to join the Lions family.”

The others agreed and provided some fine anecdotes of their time in the red jersey, as well as playing for Scotland.

Ex-Lions captain and coach, Jim Telfer, as guest speaker, gave a passionate and humorous address, looking back on the history of the Lions and ahead to the future.

A portrait of Kelso’s five Lions, by Jimmy Fleming, was also unveiled, while the evening raised over £3000 for youth rugby in Kelso.

Another recipient, Selkirk’s John Rutherford, said he was “thrilled” to receive his cap. “I’d heard a whisper it was happening but, when that package arrives at your door and you open it up – it’s a lovely thing to have,” he added. “It’s beautifully made and presented.

“I am not on Twitter but I’ve seen a lot of tweets from the newer Lions. They come from a professional era and to see what it means to them is fantastic. It means the same to them as it it did to us playing 30-odd years ago.”

John shared memories too with ex-Selkirk team-mate Iain Paxton and ex-Jed-Forest ace Roy Laidlaw, who were on the same Lions tour of New Zealand with John in 1983.

They were long tours, but players came back incredibly fit and more knowledgeable, having learned a lot from other countries, said John. It was a great honour to be considered one of the best in Britain as well as Scotland, and a big thing for families as well.

The British Mountain Bike Enduro Championship, the headline event at this year’s TweedLove Bike Festival in Peebles, is being pumped up by support from EventScotland.

The championship – known as the most important race in UK mountain biking – has been awarded £10,000 in round 37 of EventScotland’s National Funding Programme.

It is one of 12 events and festivals across Scotland to have benefited from a share of £100,000 in the last round of funding from EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, which aims to enhance event delivery and ensure a diverse portfolio of events for Scotland.

The Championship event taking place during the main weekend of Tweedlove Festival between June 8-10 will feature race stages in Glentress and Tweed Valley Forests, designed to test technique, endurance and stamina.

TweedLove Festival began nine years ago with some cycling friends organising events – and has grown into one of the UK’s biggest cycling festivals, contributing around £750,000 towards the local economy and attracting thousands of visitors to the region, now recognised as a leading cycling destination in Scotland.

Event director Neil Dalgleish, of TweedLove Festival, said: “The Tweed Valley has an incredible offer for mountain biking and cycling in general. We’re delighted to host the British Champs race – the most important Enduro race of the year – in what is now seen as the UK’s spiritual home for Enduro riding. The appeal of our assets is clear, as we regularly have twice as many riders attending our races than events elsewhere in the UK.”

“They always get a very warm Tweed Valley welcome and have a fantastic time on and off their bikes.”

Scotland’s matches on the 2018 Summer Tour will be broadcast live on free-to-air TV, it has been confirmed.

The national team will travel to the Americas for their Summer Tests in June, with games against Canada, USA and Argentina taking place on consecutive Saturdays.

The North American Tests against Canada on Saturday June 9 (kick-off 7pm, Sunday 2am UK time) and USA on Saturday, June 16 (kick-off 8pm, Sunday 2am UK time) will be shown live on the BBC, with the final Test against Argentina on Saturday, June 23 (kick-off 4.40pm, 8.40pm UK time) aired on Channel 4.

Scottish Rugby chief operating officer, Dominic McKay, said: “We’re delighted to have secured live, free-to-air coverage of all Scotland Summer Tests across the UK and are particularly pleased to welcome a relatively new entrant into the rugby market, Channel 4, into the stable of Scottish rugby broadcasters showing national team Test matches.”

Tom Connor, editor of BBC Scotland sport, said: “The Scotland summer tour matches are always a great opportunity to see how we fare against less familiar international teams, so we’re delighted to be showing the matches against both Canada and the USA.”

Channel 4 head of sport, Stephen Lyle, said: “Scotland showed what they were capable of during the Six Nations – now there is much anticipation to see what they can do away from home against one of the world’s toughest teams. And, with Gregor Townsend’s Scotland, we know it will be entertaining.”

In addition, Scotland’s 2019 summer series of Test matches leading to Rugby World Cup 2019 has been revised, creating two pairs of back-to-back fixtures against opponents France and Georgia.

The four-match, Summer Test schedule will begin when Scotland travel to face France on Saturday, August 17 before hosting the return fixture at BT Murrayfield a week later (Saturday, August 24).

The first leg of the double header against Georgia follows on Saturday, August 31, where Scotland will be the first Tier 1 nation to face the Lelos on home soil at the Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi.

The national team will then complete its competitive preparations for RWC 2019 on home soil, when they face Georgia on the weekend of Friday/Saturday, September 6-7 at BT Murrayfield.

2018 Summer Tour:

Saturday, June 9: Canada v Scotland; Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton (kick-off 7pm, Sunday 2am UK time) – live on BBC.

Saturday, June 16: USA v Scotland; BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston (kick-off 8pm, Sunday 2am UK time) – live on BBC.

Saturday, June 23: Argentina v Scotland; Estadio Centenario (kick-off 4.40pm, 8.40pm UK time) – live on Channel 4.

2019 Summer Test schedule:

Saturday, August 17: France v Scotland(venue and kick-off TBC).

Saturday, August 24: Scotland v France; BT Murrayfield (kick-off TBC).

Saturday. August 31: Georgia v Scotland; Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia (kick-off TBC)

Weekend of Friday/Saturday, September 6-7: Scotland v Georgia; BT Murrayfield (kick-off TBC).

Sentence has been deferred on a woman responsible for a benefit fraud running to £8,000.

Jacqueline Craig, 60, of Chiefswood Road, Melrose, pleaded guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court to failing to notify the Department for Work and Pensions that she was living with her partner.

As a result of that, Craig was paid £8,000 in jobseeker’s allowance between April 2013 and April 2017 she wasn’t entitled to.

Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said: “She should have declared this. It was clear he was residing with her and he had some earnings.”

Defence lawyer Greg McDonnel said his client was paying the money back out of her benefits.

He explained: “She is now married. He was working sporadically, not full time.”

Sheriff Peter Paterson said he would defer sentence for six months to allow Craig to continue to pay back the money she owes the DWP.

He said he would consider giving her an unpaid work order when the case next calls on November 5.

A 39-year-old woman has been remanded in custody at Selkirk Sheriff Court after being accused of intimidating a child witness due to give evidence at her 17-year-old son’s trial.

She appeared from custody after being arrested on a warrant on Friday and pleaded not guilty to committing that offence at Selkirk Sheriff Court last month.

Sheriff Peter Paterson said he was prepared to grant her bail to an address in Edinburgh but the crown immediately lodged an appeal.

She has been remanded in custody until the outcome of the appeal hearing, with a trial date set for June 21 and an intermediate hearing on June 4.

Her son was due to stand trial accused of sending a 13-year-old female pupil of Galashiels Academy an image of his private parts over a mobile phone in February.

That trial was adjourned due to the alleged incident.

A man has been ordered to carry out 80 hours’ unpaid work at Selkirk Sheriff Court after he admitted a charge of threatening or abusive behaviour at an address in Hawick’s Wellington Court last September.

David Wotherspoon, 30, of Howdenbank, Hawick, was also found guilty of careless driving in his home town on September 6.

Besides being given an unpaid work order, he had six penalty points placed on his licence and was ordered to resit his driving test.

A drug-dealer has been fined £700.

David Hosie had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and diazepam at a house in Torwoodleee Road, Galashiels, on February 2 last year.

The 29-year-old, of Glenburn Avenue, Newtown, admitted having £130 worth of cannabis and 215 diazepam tablets worth £1 each.

He was fined £350 on each count at Selkirk Sheriff Court.

A woman has admitted assaulting two social workers.

Shannon Wilson, 21, pleaded guilty to carrying out those attacks at her home at the Green in Selkirk on December 19.

She punched one woman repeatedly to the arm and head to her injury and seized hold of another’s clothing.

Defence lawyer Ross Dow told Selkirk Sheriff Court: “She does recognise that this should not have happened.

“She suffers from an emotional personality disorder.

“She did sent a text message to one of the social workers to say she was sorry.”

Sheriff Peter Paterson told her: “These are serious charges – you assaulted two social workers who are trying to help you – but the court is sympathetic towards you.”

He deferred sentence for six months for good behaviour, telling her that he might impose an unpaid work order when the case next calls on November 5.

A woman has admitted a benefit fraud involving almost £27,000 at Selkirk Sheriff Court.

Rebecca Fairley, 33, failed to notify the Department for Work and Pensions and Scottish Borders Council of a change of circumstances, in that she was living with Robert Kelly.

She pleaded guilty to claiming £10,811 in income support and £15,964 in housing benefit she was not entitled to.

That offence was committed between October 2012 and February 2017 at a house at Lindean, near Selkirk.

Sheriff Peter Paterson said: “These are serious issues given the amount of money involved, and I will call for reports to see if there is an alternative to a custodial sentence.”

Fairley, giving an address at Dryden, near Selkirk, had sentence deferred until June 18 for a criminal justice social work report and a restriction-of-liberty order assessment.

Background reports have been ordered on a Selkirk teenager found in possession of a knife in the town’s High Street.

Kieran Barron also admitted stealing two bank cards and £15 in cash from a house in Shawburn Road, Selkirk, earlier on February 4.

Sentence was deferred on the 19-year-old, of Harrison Place, until June 18 for reports and when he has other matters calling.

Figures appearing to show a £13m cut in Scottish Borders Council’s budget have sparked a falling-out between its ruling administration and opposition councillors.

The Conservative-led administration says it is being left out of pocket, pointing to figures published by the Scottish Government’s information centre showing that since 2013, the council’s revenue budget has been cut by £13m.

That equates to a 6% drop in funding, the equivalent of £135 per Borders resident.

Council leader Shona Haslam said: “These figures really demonstrate the challenges we face in the Borders.

“The council is being asked to do much more, with much less money to spend. A £13m cut in our day-to-day budget means we are having to make some tough decisions.

“We didn’t hear a peep out of the Scottish National Party when they ran the council about these cuts. Instead of criticising the current administration, perhaps they should tell Borderers why they stayed quiet when their budget was being slashed by their own party in Holyrood.”

“I’m determined to protect front-line services in the Borders from SNP cuts. That is why we are prioritising the things that really matter to Borderers, like investing in our young people, bringing back community policing and fixing our roads after years of neglect.”

However, the Scottish Government claims the figures exclude additional revenue provided to the council, including health and social care payments.

The Scottish Government also points to its 2018-19 funding settlement, which it says will provide local governments with an increase in funding for day-to-day spending and capital expenditure.

A government spokesperson said: “These figures exclude a number of important additional funding sources including £355m for health and social care and £150m of funding that is provided outwith the core settlement but which benefits local government.

“In 2018-19, our £10.7bn local government settlement will provide a real-terms increase in both revenue and capital at a time when the Scottish revenue budget faces continued real-terms cuts, showing that we have treated local government very fairly in the face of those.

“And with local authorities using their powers to increase council tax by the maximum allowable 3%, they now have access to an additional £251.9m for day-to-day spending on local services compared to 2017-18.

“As the report notes, local government funding will make up a third of the Scottish Government’s budget this year, showing our recognition of local government funding pressures and our commitment to supporting our partners in delivering vital local services.”

The figures quoted by the Conservatives were also criticised by the leader of the SNP-led opposition at the council, fellow Tweeddale East councillor Stuart Bell.

He said: “I am dismayed by the local Tories. One moment the leader of the council expresses an interest in consensus politics, but the next she parrots the local MP’s repetitive negativity about the SNP. The public can see through this.

“The latest nonsense is based on a narrow interpretation of Holyrood statistics. Looked at over a longer period from 2010 to 2018, the Scottish Government’s revenue budget has been cut, by the Tories in Westminster, by about 5.8% and, in turn, the Scottish Government have cut their grant to local authorities by about 8% over the same period. In the Borders, we mitigated some of that through a small council tax increase.

“Although local authority funding was falling, the Scottish Government said two years ago that expenditure on local services would go up, and that is exactly what happened as more money went into new health and social care funds and £120m went directly to headteachers to help bridge the educational attainment gap.  

“Not all funding for local services comes through local authorities. It’s a pity the leader of Scottish Borders Council doesn’t seem to know this.

“I welcome the Tory leader’s desire to protect local services. I look forward to seeing this happening in practice.”