A man who admitted raping a 17-year-old girl and subjecting an inmate to a sex attack while he was awaiting trial has been jailed for life.

James McColgan, 21, raped the girl in Paisley last September and tortured and raped a teenage boy in Polmont Young Offenders Institution in October.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, Lady Dorrian imposed a lifelong restriction order on McColgan.

He was also ordered to serve at least nine years before applying for parole.

The court was told McColgan, from Johnstone in Renfrewshire, had held the teenage student prisoner in a flat in Paisley, where she was punched in the face, ordered to strip and forced to cut off her hair.

The victim was stabbed and raped after trying to escape by running naked into a back garden. Read more…

Markings on a 16th Century carving from Stirling Castle could be the oldest surviving piece of written Scottish instrumental music, historians believe.

A sequence of 0s, Is and IIs have been found on one of the Stirling Heads – wooden medallions which would have decorated the castle’s royal palace.

It is believed the music could have been played on instruments such as harps, viols, fiddles and lutes.

An experienced harpist has been trying to play the tune.

The markings would not have been an exact musical score, but would have given guidance to players who then improvised.

There are earlier examples of written music in Scotland, but they were composed for choirs rather than an instrumental band. Read more…

Drinks giant Diageo has announced sales were down 7% in the three months to the end of March.

The company, which has its headquarters in Edinburgh, said markets around the world had weakened, with sales sharply down in Russia.

Diageo, whose brands include Guinness, Smirnoff Vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky, said the fall was also down to planned stock reductions in the US.

The company said it was still on track to raise profits by 4% to 6% this year.

Paul Walsh, Chief Executive of Diageo said restructuring meant the company would emerge from the global downturn “as an even stronger business”.

Diageo announced a cost-saving programme when it reported an increase in profits in February.

Production has been cut and a packaging plant in Kilmarnock was closed for a period of two weeks to save money.

Diageo said it had continued to invest in the business. Work has started on a ￡65m green energy plant in Fife.

A new distillery at Roseisle in Speyside is due to open in a few months time, part of a ￡100m investment.

Diageo employs 4,500 in Scotland. It owns 27 malt distilleries as well as the Gleneagles Hotel.

Next year, the Port Dundas Distillery in Glasgow would have been producing whisky for exactly 200 years.

Now, the plant will close its doors before that landmark has been reached, after owners Diageo announced that up to 900 jobs would be lost across Scotland, including 140 of 220 posts at Port Dundas.

The plant, located on a 21-acre site, supplies grain spirit for about 39 million litres of alcohol each year.

It has been rebuilt twice in its history after it was fire damaged in 1903 and 1913.

The site stopped production during WWII but restarted again in 1945, using only homegrown barley.

Its neighbouring Dundashill Cooperage – which makes 85,000 hogshead casks a year – dates back even further, founded in 1770 by John Harvey. Read more…

Formula One fans have been urged to sign an online petition opposing Diageo’s plans to cut hundreds of jobs.

SNP MSP Willie Coffey made the call as Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren Mercedes team, sponsored by the Johnnie Walker brand, competed in the German Grand Prix.

Diageo plans to cut 900 jobs by closing the Johnnie Walker bottling plant in Kilmarnock and a distillery in Glasgow.

Labour MSP Patricia Ferguson has meanwhile announced plans for a cross-party summit to oppose the cuts.

Ms Ferguson, whose Maryhill constituency includes the threatened Port Dundas distillery, said she would host the summit along with the Unite and GMB unions in the first week of August.

The meeting will also involve Glasgow City Council leader Stephen Purcell and politicians from the Kilmarnock area. Read more…