Murder inquiry after death of scientist on Dundee street

7 July 2025 Share Save Megan Bonar BBC Scotland News Share Save

Police Scotland Dr Fortune Gomo completed her PhD at the University of Dundee in 2022

A man has been charged in connection with the death of a scientist who was found seriously injured on a Dundee street. Dr Fortune Gomo, 39, who was originally from Zimbabwe, was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident on South Road at about 16:25 on Saturday. The 20-year-old suspect is due to appear before Dundee Sheriff Court later. Following a post-mortem examination, Police Scotland said the death was being treated as murder.

Dr Gomo, who worked for Scottish Water, lived locally and was a graduate of the University of Dundee. Prof Nigel Seaton, interim principal and vice-chancellor, said the university was “shocked” by the death of the former research assistant.

Police carried out extensive investigations at the scene on Sunday

Det Supt Peter Sharp, the officer in charge of the investigation, said: “Firstly, my thoughts remain with Fortune’s family at this incredibly sad time. “They are being supported by specialist officers and I would ask that their privacy is respected.” He added inquiries were continuing and said the incident “poses no wider risk to the public”. The senior officer said his team were following a number of lines of inquiry. Det Supt Sharp added: “I am also acutely aware of content circulating on social media and would urge the public not to speculate about the circumstances of the incident. “The public will notice a visibly increased police presence in the area and I would encourage anyone who has any concerns to speak with our officers.” Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the force.

A local woman, wearing a scarf featuring the colours of the Zimbabwe flag, left flowers near the scene on Sunday

Meteor burns brightly across night sky in Scotland

3 July 2025 Share Save Andrew Picken and Steven McKenzie BBC Scotland News Share Save

Suspected meteor seen over Scotland’s skies

Astonished Scots have captured a meteor streaking and burning brightly across the night sky. The orange light and accompanying bang was spotted at about 00:50 by people on the Isle of Lewis, Stirling, Glasgow and in Argyll and Bute. Gillian-Isabella McLaughlin, who was walking her dog in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, when the whole sky was lit up, said it was “the most thrilling sight” she had ever witnessed. Meteors are so named when matter enters Earth’s atmosphere and often make a spectacular appearance as they burn and create streaking lights through the sky.

Andy McNeill, who saw the event in Appin, Argyll and Bute, said: “There was a bright flash over the house which also caused the wi-fi to reset, and then maybe 20 to 30 seconds later an explosive bang. “There was also contrail in the sky, striking broadly east to west.” Rachel Sutherland, from Inverness, said: “I saw a bright flash but wasn’t sure what it was.” Another observer at Glen Lyon in Perthshire said they saw a flash in the sky at around 00:50 followed a few minutes later by a rumble in the air.

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Gemma Henderson, who saw the event from her living room in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, said: “I thought it must have been a lightning bolt. “I have the lightning tracker app on my phone, so checked that and found that there had been no lightning present. “Then there was a loud noise, so thought the tracker must have been incorrect. It was extremely bright.” Merseyside lorry driver Ringolds Abolins spotted it while driving up to Glasgow on the M74. He said: “It burned out in two to four seconds. It was so quick and was small green line behind. “I thought in first moment it was a kind of rocket or missile.”

‘Pretty scared’

Ray Whyte was staying in a static caravan while working in Glen Nevis in the Highlands when he was startled by the meteorite. He said: “I couldn’t sleep after a hard day so got up for a coffee. “Me and dog jumped out our skin with the bang. “I missed the light as the curtains were drawn, but the whole static shook like it had been used as a drum or a vehicle had hit the side. “Left us both pretty scared and confused.” William Sinclair, of Kilwinning in Ayrshire, said he was woken by two large bangs and feared someone was breaking into his house.

Cassien The band Cassien were travelling from a gig when the meteor appeared

Wedding band Cassien was driving back home from a gig in East Ayrshire. The band’s Michael Pryce said: “All members of the band saw it from their cars. “It started off as a green glow, turning white and then burst into flame lasting for five to six seconds. It was spectacular to see.” Other people have reported seeing a “bright flash” through their house window in Inverness, while others caught sight of the meteor from Jura. HM Coastguard told BBC Scotland News it had received several reports related to the meteor overnight, including an alert to unidentified lights at the Tay Road Bridge at about 01:02. A spokesperson said: “Broughty Ferry lifeboat was called to investigate alongside Dundee Coastguard Rescue Team and with nothing untoward found, the search was stood down. “The sighting was believed to have been related to a meteorite shower reported across parts of the UK.” The RNLI said it was not aware of any other lifeboat launches in Scotland sparked by the meteor.

Cyrielle Opitom said seeing the meteor over Scotland is uncommon

Astronomer Cyrielle Opitom said the meteor can be called a fireball due to how bright it was. She told BBC Scotland News: “It’s a piece of rock that has entered the earth’s atmosphere, and that is something that happens fairly regularly. “They can be very small asteroids or pieces of comets. We don’t know exactly what one it is yet.” She said while meteors aren’t rare, seeing them inland during the night while the skies are clear is much less common. “I don’t think seeing something that clear over Scotland will happen again for quite a few years,” she added. She said not much is known about this particular meteor, including its size, but work will be carried out to establish if it landed or disintegrated in the atmosphere.

Meteoroid, meteor or meteorite?

What did people see? US space agency Nasa has a handy guide. Meteoroids are rocks still in space, and vary in size from grains of dust to small asteroids. Meteors are meteoroids that enter Earth’s atmosphere. They enter at high speed and burn up. The fireballs are nicknamed shooting stars. And meteorites are meteoroids that survive their journey through the atmosphere and hits the ground. Nasa said an estimated 48.5 tons of meteoritic material falls on Earth each day – almost all of it burns up in the atmosphere.

Parked in lay-bys – the drivers determined to avoid airport drop-off fees

19 July 2025 Share Save James Delaney BBC Scotland News Share Save

BBC Caroline O’Brien parked in a lay-by near the main terminal building to avoid paying the charge

It’s a hot and sticky Friday in the middle of the summer holidays and cars are flooding onto Edinburgh Airport’s approach road. There are few places to stop, but in almost every lay-by a steady stream of drivers await friends and loved ones touching down from their holidays. They are all parked in a half-mile radius from the entrance to the terminal building in a bid to beat so-called “kiss-and-fly” charges in the official drop-off zone. Research by the RAC, released this week, found that more than half of the country’s busiest airports have raised drop-off fees in the last 12 months.

In Edinburgh, drivers face a £6 tariff for a 10-minute stay at a specific drop-off and pick-up zone metres from the main terminal building. Every minute beyond that allowance will cost them an extra £1. Meanwhile, Edinburgh Airport’s short-stay terminal car park costs £7 for up to 15 minutes wait time and £14 for 30 minutes. Other short-stay car parks further from the terminal largely cost between £7 and £10, significantly increasing in cost beyond an hour, while some are free for a limited period.

A lay-by near a roundabout at Edinburgh Airport was almost full

Instead, drivers here look to beat the system, waiting in nooks and crannies along Eastfield Road for a message that their passengers have arrived. They then drive a few hundred metres towards the Moxy or Hilton hotels and pick them up as they leave the airport complex, exiting hastily to avoid risking a fine for parking on double yellow lines.

Close to the Moxy, next to a farm gate by a grass verge, Caroline O’Brien, 52, is waiting in a lay-by for her husband and children after they returned from a holiday to Paris. She says she had previously been charged £24 for under 30 minutes in the drop-off zone and decided not to take any chances this time. “You don’t know if the plane is going to be early or late in and I don’t want them to be standing around,” she says. “For pick-up and drop-off, I think a couple of pounds [would be fair]. You’re only there a few minutes for them to get their cases and then right back in the car and away again.”

The pickup and drop-off zone at Edinburgh Airport does not inform drivers about fees on their approach

Drivers approaching via Eastfield Road pass three roundabouts on the way into the main terminal, the closest of which leads them on to a one-way system which means they have to pass through the drop-off zone. There is no signage on the approach to inform them of the charges, however there is when they are already inside the drop-off zone. Drivers pay once they exit the drop-off area.

Edinburgh Airport is among those to have increased their prices in the last year

London Gatwick, Bristol, Leeds Bradford, Southampton and Stansted charged the top rate of £7 in the RAC survey. Edinburgh is level with London Heathrow, Birmingham, Liverpool John Lennon and Glasgow in charging £6 for the initial drop off. By contrast, at nine of the 10 busiest airports in the European Union there are no drop-off fees. Rontom Tschopp, 32, from Switzerland, had just dropped a friend off at the terminal but was unaware there would be a charge for doing so.

Rontom Tschopp said there were no drop-off charges at his local airport in Switzerland

He says his local airport, in Basel, did not charge for the same service. He says: “I was a bit flabbergasted to be honest, because we don’t have that in Switzerland. “I think it creates a form of aversion to do the little things like drop off your friends. If I had known about the fees, we probably wouldn’t have had such a heartfelt goodbye, it would have been: ‘No, go now, there’s extra fees’.”

Sheila McPheely said the free drop-off zone was useful for some, but not those with mobility issues.

Edinburgh Airport does have other road links with the city centre through bus services, while the tram network also stops just outside. It also has a free drop-off zone about half a mile (0.8km) from the main terminal building, across the tram line and near a car rental service. Drivers can park there for 30 minutes free of charge, but it costs £10 up to an hour after that and £18 for between one and three hours. Up another side street, near a vacant commercial business, Shiela McPheely is waiting to collect her sisters from their holiday in Albufeira in Portugal. She says the cost of the drop-off zone is “appalling” and is planning to pick her sisters up at the free drop-off point, despite both having mobility issues. “It’s just greedy. You pay enough for your flights and when you get in there, you get a tea or a coffee, so they are getting money from you that way,” Sheila, 79, says. “There is a bit you can park in that is free, but that is all very well if you are young and fit, but one of my sisters has a sore back, the other one is waiting for a hip operation, so it’s difficult for them.”

Gavin Marshall said the charges were “extortionate”

Back inside the charged drop-off area, a multi-storey car park provides a roof and shade from the warm afternoon sun. Gavin Marshall, 45, has been waiting for some time for his in-laws to arrive on a flight from London, before driving them back to Stirling. He says he had not noticed the charge before he parked up. He says: “It’s a bit extortionate, £1 per minute is a bit of a joke.” “The flat £6 I think is fair, this £1 per minute seems a bit silly, it’s a bit much.”

Dean Carse said the charges made each journey £6 more expensive for customers in his taxi

Meanwhile, taxi driver Dean Carse, 31, says the charge has an impact on customers. He says: “Every journey is £6 more expensive. “I pay it, but I get it back off the customer, which is ridiculous, it goes from the customer to me to the airport. “The airport spin it like they care about pollution, but they don’t. They’re a business and they want to make money.”

Man who drove over wife twice has jail sentence extended

1 July 2025 Share Save Share Save

During the initial sentencing, the judge cited the “horrifying” footage of Budge using his car “as a weapon”

An abusive husband who tried to murder his estranged wife by driving his car over her twice has been sentenced to an additional three years and six months in jail. William Budge, 62, was caught on camera ramming Sandra Budge with his car in Edinburgh in April 2023, before turning around and driving over her again as she lay on the ground. He was sentenced to seven years and four months in February. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) successfully appealed to have that sentence quashed and replaced by a jail term of 10 years and 10 months.

Police Scotland William Budge admitted attacking his wife in Edinburgh last year

The High Court in Edinburgh heard earlier this year that Budge attacked his estranged wife in Muirhouse Parkway because he was “embarrassed” she had left him. He pleaded guilty to a domestic abuse charge as well as assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement, permanent impairment, danger of life and attempted murder.

Jazz star Tommy Smith sacked from Conservatoire role

18 June 2025 Share Save Share Save

BBC Tommy Smith had worked at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland since 2009

Leading Scottish jazz musician Tommy Smith has been dismissed from his senior role at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. It follows reports in the Mail on Sunday that the 58-year-old saxophonist had started a relationship with a student. Smith had held the Head of Jazz position at the prestigious Glasgow music school for the last 16 years. However he will remain in post as artistic director of two of Scotland’s jazz orchestras until “due process is completed”.

The Conservatoire confirmed to BBC Scotland News that he had been dismissed “following a disciplinary investigation and hearing”. A spokesperson added: “RCS has robust policies in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff.”

Smith was awarded an OBE in 2019

Smith is the founder of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra which is currently celebrating its 30th year. He remains a board member of the organisation, as well as its artistic director. In 2002 he established the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra, a free to play group aimed at encouraging young jazz talent in Scotland. In a statement, the board said it was aware of the newspaper reports but that the artistic director post was very different from a teaching role. It said: “While the board is aware of the Mail on Sunday report surrounding his removal from post by the Royal Conservatoire for Scotland, we wish it to be understood that his work with the SNJO and the TSYJO is, as Artistic Director, significantly different from his teaching position at the RCS. “Moreover, as with such cases, Mr Smith is within his rights to appeal his dismissal, therefore, we will be making no further comment until any due process is completed.” A concert by the TSYJO – where Smith was not scheduled to appear – is still going ahead on Friday as part of the city’s jazz festival. A spokesperson for the event said: “The jazz orchestra show will go ahead as planned, conducted by Pete Johnstone, giving 26 young musicians a platform to showcase their musical talents as part of the festival.” Smith has had a prolific and successful music career and in 2009 was appointed as the inaugural head of the first-ever full-time jazz course at the RCS. He was awarded an OBE for his services to jazz in 2019. Smith has been approached for comment.

Who is Tommy Smith?