THE ARCHIVES

How two false teeth were used for the identification of a burglar was told at Birmingham Assizes when John Walsh, a labourer, who pleaded guilty was sentenced to seven years’ penal servitude on a series of charges of housebreaking and assault. He had broken into the house of Mr and Mrs Gardner and grappled with Mr Gardner after threatening to shoot the pair. The next day, two false teeth were found on the stairs. It was also found that Walsh had consumed half a shoulder of lamb, tea, bread, butter and eggs.

50 years ago

A four-year-old pure bred Suffolk ewe from Mr David Kerr’s small flock at Maidenplain, Aberuthven, may have established a record by producing her second crop of lambs in less than seven months. Mr Kerr, who has been lambing ewes for about 30 years, said after assisting at the birth: “It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of a pure-bred Suffolk having two crops in a year. It could be achieved by artificial insemination, but this was entirely natural. The new arrivals are ewe lambs, so they might carry on the tradition.”

It is every golfer’s dream – a hole in one. For most of us it will grace our scorecard maybe once in a lifetime, if at all. But a Carnoustie golfer has made the ace in the hole something of a speciality with ELEVEN aces spanning 30 years. The terrific strike rate has been achieved by Allan MacLaren, a retired insurance manager. However, he attributes his success “entirely to luck”. His latest in a long line of “lucky” shots came on the 160-yard fifth hole at Carnoustie’s Buddon course, just days before the Scottish Open.

One year ago

Council electric cars which sparked controversy in March have travelled just a few hundred miles since then, it has emerged. The four BMW i3s – worth around £130,000 in total – were provided to the cash-strapped authority by Transport Scotland in an effort to help the drive towards a target of net zero emissions. Two of the BMWs have done just 20 miles each in a combined total of around 350. The council said full roll-out of the new electric fleet had been delayed due to “other priorities”.