Jennifer Hyland

Consultant lung specialist Mohammed Asif has reportedly been suspended from the Golden Jubilee National Hospital following a new sexual misconduct complaint. He previously received a GMC warning and five-year censure for sexually motivated comments toward female colleagues in 2013 and 2017, but was allowed to continue working. The suspension comes amid separate legal claims alleging that he removed healthy lung tissue from Brian Connolly and performed invasive surgery on Stacey Ruthven for a non-cancerous tumour. The hospital said it does not comment on individual cases but has processes for investigating concerns and taking appropriate action.

The replacement for Glasgow’s HMP Barlinnie could cost taxpayers more than £1 million per prisoner, with the 1,344-cell HMP Glasgow project already estimated at £1 billion and facing further increases before its scheduled 2028 completion. HMP Highland in Inverness has risen from an initial £52 million estimate to £209 million for 200 cells. Opposition parties blame the SNP government for mismanagement, delays and procurement failures, while officials cite inflation and supply-chain pressures. The projects are being developed amid record prison overcrowding, with more than 8,500 inmates held in a system designed for 7,805. The Scottish Government and Scottish Prison Service defend the prisons as necessary long-term investments that will add capacity and improve conditions, rehabilitation and safety.

Police Scotland recorded £178,353 in costs for the 2020–2024 investigation into the death of charity cyclist Tony Parsons, including more than £102,000 in police overtime, £67,337 for supplies and services, and £5,831 in transport costs. Parsons was struck by Alexander McKellar’s speeding car while cycling near Bridge of Orchy in 2017, then left to die and buried by Alexander and his brother Robert. Caroline Muirhead later helped police locate the remains. Alexander pleaded guilty to culpable homicide and received a 12-year sentence, while Robert was sentenced to five years and three months for obstruction of justice.

Heather Hinshelwood says her six-month-old son Jaime died in 2017 after Wishaw General Hospital diagnosed his symptoms as a viral infection and sent him home; a post-mortem later confirmed undetected Kawasaki disease and a ruptured coronary artery aneurysm. She now works with the charity Societi to improve recognition of the rare condition, which can cause fatal heart complications if untreated, and is fundraising through a West Highland Way hike in Jaime's memory. The article also highlights other children affected by Kawasaki disease and outlines its symptoms, risks and potential for successful treatment when diagnosed early.

Primodos campaigners have welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s renewed support for families who say the hormone pregnancy test caused birth defects and lifelong illnesses. Wilma Ord described the drug’s effects on her daughter, while Marie Lyon said affected families are seeking redress after decades of waiting. Primodos was withdrawn in 1978 after 1.5 million women had taken it; Schering, now part of Bayer, denies a causal link, although a 2020 independent review found regulators had failed patients and that the drug caused avoidable harm. Campaigners lost a 2023 High Court compensation case and hope the proposed Hillsborough Law will compel officials to disclose information that could support their claims.

Kira Cousins has spoken publicly about deceiving her former partner, Jamie Gardner, and relatives into believing that a lifelike reborn doll was their newborn daughter. She says the deception began after a miscarriage left her unable to tell Gardner she was no longer pregnant, but controversially argues that people who believed the doll was real should have noticed sooner. Gardner says he genuinely believed he had become a father and disputes Cousins’s claim that she tried to tell him about the miscarriage. The deception involved fake scans, a gender-reveal party, alleged AI-generated pregnancy footage, hospital-related claims and baby items bought by relatives before the doll was discovered.