Russell Findlay - @RussellFindlay1

CLAIMS that a woman who has not been seen for 18 years is living a secret new life with gypsies in England are being investigated by police. Margaret Fleming , 36, was reported missing by her carers Edward Cairney and Avril Jones last October after the police and benefits agency staff turned up at their home. The couple claimed that Miss Fleming, who has learning difficulties, had left the run-down five-bedroom house in Inverkip, Renfrewshire, only hours before the visit by the authorities. An intensive police search at the property, Seacroft, and an excavation of its grounds lasted several months as part of an international probe into her potentially 'sinister' disappearance. But the investigation has failed to uncover a single independent sighting of Miss Fleming since Christmas 1999, when she was a teenage student. However, the Mail can reveal that friends of Mr Cairney, 75, and Miss Jones, 56, say they believe she is alive and well and living with travellers south of...

A FORMER anti-privacy tsar is coining it in by training public bodies in how to deal with requests for data. Ex-Scottish Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion, 58, offers £1,620 classes to council, police, NHS and other state staff. They're taught how to deal with Freedom of Information requests —  including what can be censored or withheld. Ex-journalist Bill Chisholm has petitioned Holyrood to overhaul FoI law amid fears the process is too complex. He said: "The average citizen would need a degree or at least a certificate in Freedom of Information practice to navigate the multiple legal strands. "While no such course or qualification is available to members of the general public, the same cannot be said for so-called FOI practitioners in the public sector." Dunion  —  who promotes the schemes, run by Act Now Training in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire  —  insisted: "My commitment to increasing the public's right to know is well-establish...

THE family of a dad publicly beaten to death on Christmas Day believe justice was not done because some witnesses were too scared to speak up. The back court where Thomas Roberts, 43, was killed is overlooked by dozens of flats and neighbours provided a graphic account to the media hours after it happened. But it is suspected some clammed up because they wanted no involvement with the police or courts. Thomas's sister June MacKay, 43, said: "People knew more than they were willing to say. We believe that people saw and heard but decided not to say anything. "I would urge them to examine their consciences. Christmas is around the corner and we have empty chair syndrome. "Some of these people spoke to the media at the time. Where are their morals?" Thomas died of head injuries following what police called a "sustained" attack in Milton, Glasgow, last year. Railway engineer David McDade, 35, walked free after a not proven verd...

A THUG accused of publicly battering a dad to death on Christmas morning was freed after jurors delivered a not proven verdict. David McDade, 35, stood trial for murdering dad-ofthree Thomas Roberts, 43, and attacking his friend David McKinnon, 50, in the early hours of December 25 last year. Railway engineer McDade was convicted of assaulting David but cleared of killing painter and decorator Thomas in what police described as a "sustained attack" in a communal area behind flats in Milton, Glasgow. The scene is overlooked by dozens of flats and neighbours spoke of their horror at hearing Thomas plead for help while being attacked. His devastated family have been left shocked by the verdict after a two-week trial at the High Court in Dumbarton. Talking exclusively to the Sunday Mail, they have called for not proven to be scrapped. Thomas's dad Lenny, 69, a former member of the Parachute Regiment, said: "How the jury could come up with not pro...

A BOXING gym at the centre of a bloodbath gang war has a foothold in Scotland after hooking up with a former corporate lawyer. Sam Kynoch, 29, brags about his ties to the MGM base in Spain, which is run by Daniel Kinahan — heir to a £500million Irish crime empire. The ex-solicitor's MGM Scotland describes itself as the 'sister business' of the Marbella gym and he is gearing up to promote fights in Glasgow and Edinburgh. But police will monitor the shows after hitmen with AK-47s blasted a Kinahan gang enforcer to death nine days ago at a boxing weigh-in in Dublin. Labour justice spokesman Graeme Pearson MSP said: "Given the apparent association between these organisations, one would hope the authorities were focusing on any implications for Scotland." The former elite cop commander added: "I am sure the police will look very closely at this relationship." Boxing coach Kinahan, 37, was the suspected target of the Irish shooting. ...