Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Appeal for info after attack
POLICE Scotland is appealing for i nformation after a teenager was attacked by a man earlier this week.
The 19-year- old woman was reportedly assaulted by a man near to the door to a common close i n Ballindean Road in Douglas on Monday afternoon.
The woman was not injured but was l ef t “shaken” by the incident, a police spokesman said.
The spokesman added: “Police Scotland is appealing for information about an incident which happened in Ballindean Road, Dundee, about 4.30pm on Monday September 23.
“The people involved in the incident are known to each other, and there was no risk to t he wider public.
“If you have any information that could assist our investigation, please call 101 or speak with any police officer.
“Also, information can be given anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.” A SHOCK ED fa m i ly whose holiday dream was shattered when Thomas Cook collapsed were told they would have to pay more than £16,000 to go on another trip.
Heather Esplin, 44, and her husband Alan, 51, were due to go to Tunisia on Tuesday for a week with seven of their 10 children.
The couple had booked to stay for a week, all-inclusive, at the SunConnect One Resort Monastir hotel and had paid £3,370.
But this week the family learned their holiday plans were ruined and Heather desperately searched to see if they could salvage their trip.
However, when she looked on travel website On the Beach, the cheapest holiday they could find was priced at an eye-watering £16,706, for one week in Majorca.
She said: “I really couldn’t believe it. I was devastated and shocked, I was stunned that they could charge that price.
“There is no way any normal person could pay that.
“That’s my mortgage paid off if I had that money. There is nothing we can do, we can’t afford another holiday.”
Heather said the original plan was to go camping with the kids, but after looking at prices, it would cost roughly the same as a week abroad, so they booked up to go to North Africa.
Joining their parents abroad would have been Imogen, 15, Dana, 14, James, 12, Robyn, 10, Owen, 9, Alan, 5, and three-year-old Issac.
Heather said the kids were devastated when they were told they were no longer going on holiday.
She had even picked up their personalised T-shirts which they wear each time they go abroad.
Heather said: “My five-year-old is quite upset. He just couldn’t wait to go on a plane.”
Heather added that she contacted the number advised on the Thomas Cook website and was told they would be able to claim back their money from September 30, although it could take up to two months to receive their refund.
She said: “I do feel sorry for the staff who have lost their jobs, it’s horrible for them.
“I know we’ve lost our holiday but they’ve lost their jobs as well.”
On The Beach said the number of cancellations off the back of Thomas Cook’s liquidation had driven up prices which was beyond its control as it is an intermediary travel agent.
The firm also pledged anyone who had their package deals cancelled as a result of the company’s collapse would receive a voucher against a future holiday purchased on the website.