Police Scotland must have access to better technology to help find missing people

The trauma for family and friends when a loved one goes missing must be unbearable.

That’s why we expect police to leave no stone unturned when it comes to searching for missing people.

But the family of dad-of-two Daniel Fraser, from Musselburgh, were instead made to wait five weeks in anguish before the 35-year-old’s body was found.

And it wasn’t the police who discovered him but volunteer divers using state-of-the-art underwater technology.

Armed with this equipment, they found Daniel in 52 minutes. Yet for reasons many are struggling to understand, police officers in Scotland don’t currently have access to this kit.

It’s shocking, ridiculous and just plain wrong that volunteers using this £6000 piece of equipment could find Daniel’s body in less than an hour, while cops failed to find him over the course of a five-week search.

And it’s truly baffling if this is a matter of expense.

What must the cost be for a police operation that lasts over a month, using a Force helicopter, search teams and police dogs, and yet winds up fruitless?

Even more damning, it’s the second such case in a matter of weeks – after divers used a sonar scanner to recover the body of Greig Stoddart, who tragically went missing on a fishing trip near Alloa on Christmas Eve.

As with Daniel’s case, that came after a lengthy, failed search by Police Scotland which left Greig’s family to endure weeks of torment before there was resolution.

That this happened once is awful enough. For it to happen a second time is scandalous.

Police Scotland must get access to this technology if it will help cut the time families spend in this unimaginable limbo. No more excuses.

Tory’s key error

Losing your house keys while at work is an inconvenience many Scots can relate to.

Edward Mountain misplaced his keys last year in the Scottish Parliament while carrying out his duties as a Tory MSP.

It meant he could not access the Edinburgh flat which he uses while working in the capital.

As a successful businessman and well-paid politician, Mountain was in a position to be able to afford a hotel room of his choosing for the night.

But eyebrows were raised after it was revealed he then claimed his hotel room bill on expenses.

Parliament bosses said it was within the rules and signed it off. But this hardly seems a fair or justified use of taxpayers’ cash.

Mountain was right to pay the money back but he should never have claimed it in the first place.

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