Soldier Buried

The funeral of bomb disposal expert Staff Sgt Brett Linley, 29, of Birmingham, who died while trying to clear improvised explosive devices in Nahr-e-Saraj, Afghanistan, on 17 July is taking place today. The service is being led by Rev Jane Adams, who taught the soldier at junior school and is a family friend and will be followed by a private burial at the Wythall Cemetery.

Tragic Children Examined

Post mortem are due to be carried out on three children found dead in their Edinburgh home this week. Police, who are treating the deaths as suspicious, are still waiting to speak to their mother, Theresa Riggi, 46, who is in a serious condition in hospital after reportedly falling from the second floor balcony of her Slateford Road property. The bodies of eight-year-old twins, Luca and Austin Riggi, and their sister Cecilia, five, were found on Wednesday. They were discovered after reports of a gas explosion at the property. However, it is understood that the children did not die as a result of the explosion or a small fire in the house.

Rail Shock

A probe has begun after a man's body was found on railway tracks outside a station in Glasgow. A train driver reported seeing the body about 300 metres outside Baillieston station, in the city's east end, at about 6.15pm on Thursday. British Transport Police are treating the death as "unexplained", but said the man could have been struck by an earlier train.

'Contempt For Pay Review'

A construction union has slammed news that the Department of Health ignored a key recommendation made by the influential NHS Pay Review Body, making its campaign for pay justice for its members more problematic. A top UCATT member branded this as "contempt for building craftworkers" after having undertaken a long campaign to win National Retention and Recruitment Premia for the workers in the NHS. The workers who comprise highly skilled bricklayers, carpenters and painters do not automatically receive NRRP payments of £3,200, unlike NHS maintenance craft workers. The campaign to achieve NRRP for Building Craft Workers has been hampered because the NHS has failed to provide accurate workforce data on building craft workers, including issues such as age profile, vacancies and turnover rates. Instead, the specialist section of the workforce have been lumped into a meaningless section described as ancillary and maintenance staff.

(BMcC/CD)