Coach Jailed Over Sex

A Fife sports coach who had sex with four underage schoolgirls has been jailed for three-and-a-half years. Iain Johnston, 21, met the girls over a three-year period while he worked at a youth club in Glenrothes. Johnston, from Glenrothes, last month admitted four charges of having unlawful sexual intercourse with the girls between July 2006 and May 2009. The underage girls were each aged 14 or 15 when he first had sex with them.

NI On Bomb Alert

Northern Ireland's second city, Londonderry has been crippled today as security alerts are continuing after the Real IRA said they left four devices in the city. A hijacked van has been left outside Strand Road Police Station and the roads between Lawrence Hill and Asylum Road are cordoned off. An area around Bishop Street Courthouse is also closed after another hijacked vehicle was abandoned at Bishop's Gate. At least three controlled explosions have been carried out. People have been evacuated from both areas. The city's Craigavon Bridge is also shut.

Glasgow Hospital Project 'Breaks Ground'

Scotland's largest publicly funded construction project, the £840 million South Glasgow Hospitals Campus, reached a key milestone this week. Scotland's Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, performed a ground-breaking ceremony on the site. The new 1109 bed adult hospital, 256 bed children's hospital and laboratory facilities will be fully operational by 2015.

Norwich Man Dies

A man found with multiple injuries on a street in Norwich has died. The as yet unidentified man was discovered by a member of the public at Parmentergate Court, near St John Street, late on Thursday. He was taken to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where he died a short time later. A police spokesman said the man had received multiple injuries, but detectives are not treating the death as suspicious.

Tunnel Academy Wins Funding

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has given approval to £5 million funding for a Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy at Aldersbrook Sidings, Ilford, in the London Boroughs of Redbridge and Newham. The facility is being developed by Crossrail, Europe's largest transport infrastructure project. The estimated benefit of Crossrail to the UK economy is at least £36 billion. It will employ over 14,000 people of which 3,500 will be directly linked to the tunnelling and underground construction environment. This employer-led project is fully supported by the industry through Construction Skills, the British Tunnelling Society and Tunnel Skills who recognise that the Academy will provide the right environment to deliver skills essential to the sector.

Budget Cuts At BBC Opposed

The BBC should not be cutting its investment in digital media, said the trade body for independent producers, Pact, at a recent meeting with senior BBC Executives. The meeting, called by Pact was to allow their members who are suppliers to BBC online - who make up a significant proportion of their external spend - to air their views about the proposed budget cuts to BBC online outlined in the BBC Strategy review. Chief Executive, John McVay said: "A 25% cut to online is a backward step. Simply cutting overall budgets does not ensure it will re-focus on key public service areas or deliver efficiencies. We will be lobbying hard on this issue as part of our full response to the review, to ensure the BBC really puts quality first."

(BMcC/GK)