Welfare of children in spotlight

MORE than 200 child protection i nvestigations were carried out in Dundee last year.

The Dundee child prot e c t i o n c o m m i t t e e ’s annual report and delivery plan revealed 231 investigations were carried out on the risks posed to vulnerable children over the course of the year.

It also showed 42 child protection orders were granted over the same period. These are issued by courts when there is an immediate danger to children so they can be removed to a safe place.

The committee has now launched a new campaign — If Not You, Who? — which aims to tell people how they can raise concerns about the welfare of a child.

Norma Ritchie, the comm i t t e e ’s independent chairwoman, said: “We all have a responsibility to recognise and actively consider potential risks to a child.

“I hope this report will help promote greater public awareness, understanding and support for the work we do as a child protection committee.”

Scot Young, 52, died in 2014 after plunging on to railings from a townhouse balcony in London.

The Dundonian and his estranged wife Michelle had been involved in a £400 million divorce battle, the longest in British legal history, before his death.

Michelle, who is the mother of Mr Young’s two children and was eventually awarded £26 million in a settlement, will appear in a BBC documentary on Wednesday.

Investigators have continued to probe Mr Young’s complicated finances in the years following his death.

But they have drawn a blank and funding for the action has ended.

During the divorce proceedings, Mr Young was jailed for six months for refusing to disclose his finances to the courts and pay maintenance to Michelle.

He eventually declared himself bankrupt, which was overseen by London-based accountancy firm Grant Thornton.

Michelle, a former fashion buyer, now lives in a two-bedroom flat in London.

As well as casting doubt on whether she will ever get a penny, one of her key advisers has also questioned Grant Thornton’s involvement in the case.

International asset recovery specialist L. Burke Files, who is based in the US, said: “Scot was meticulous in all his business dealings.

“Where did all the money go? We might never know. But I doubt he lost it. He was very clever.”

In his prime, the tycoon — who was the son of former Dundee United footballer Duncan Young — was said to be

THE wife of a businessman who died in a mysterious fall will appear in a documentary in which she will tell how she is still searching for her slice of his missing millions.