The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Campers ‘rescued’ from Loch Leven over suicide fears
Huge emergency response left heavy metal fans bewildered
A desperate rescue mission was launched at a Scottish island to ‘save’ a band of heavy metal campers.
Police and fire crews descended on Loch Leven amid fears the group were engaging in a suicide pact.
Their car window was smashed as well-meaning emergency service personnel, alerted by a member of the public, searched for clues to their whereabouts.
But the six campers, including three primary-age youngsters in facepaint and wearing cloaks, yesterday insisted there was no danger.
They had set up base on one of the loch’s islands, where Mary Queen of Scots was once imprisoned in Lochleven Castle, and were huddled around a fire when scores of emergency vehicles descended on the scene.
David Henderson, a modern languages teacher from Glasgow, said the flashing lights were “like something out of the X-Files”.
He said: “We thought we were going to get abducted by aliens.”
A group of friends on a “heavy metal camping trip” found themselves at the centre of a rescue operation on a Scottish island – following fears they had set off on a suicide pact.
The rock fans – three adults and three children – sailed to Lochleven Castle for a couple of nights under the stars in their teepee, but a passerby raised the alarm, worried they had gone off to the island to kill themselves.
An emergency response was launched, involving a search and rescue helicopter, several fire crews and boats.
Police officers broke into the group’s car, in search of a suicide note.
Once on dry land, the campers – who included a university lecturer and school teacher – were quizzed by police, who said they were concerned about a possible kidnapping.
Campers David Henderson, a modern languages teacher from Glasgow, Aberdeen University lecturer Panadiotis Filis and civil engineer Ross Anderson were rescued along with Natalia Teo and Jude Anderson, both 10, and seven-yearold Andrew Vassiliadis and their dog, Jazz.
Mr Henderson, who is sings with black metal band Nyctopia, said: “We do a lot of camping in rural parts of Scotland, at ruins and that kind of thing.
“We have a small boat and we thought it would be good to take it out to the island and set up camp for the night.
“We’ve got a large teepee and we had a campfire going. It was a nice evening and one of the kids had already gone off to sleep.
“Then all of a sudden, it was like something from the X-Files.”
Mr Filis, a lecturer at Aberdeen University, said: “It was a lovely evening – the only thing that wasn’t so nice was that someone must have thought we needed rescuing.
“The next thing we knew, there was all these blue flashing lights on the shore. We had no idea what was going on.”
He said: “There must have been about 50 to 70 people there, all coming to rescue us, even though we didn’t need rescuing.
“I think someone was worried that we had left our car parked at edge of the water. They must have thought it was abandoned.
“The police smashed the window to get inside and they told us later they were looking for a suicide note.”
Natalia said: “There were all these searchlights and I could see some boats coming towards us.
“It was quite frightening, because I thought they were going to arrest someone.”
The children were loaded on to the first of two rescue boats and given life jackets.
Mr Henderson said: “They took us back to the car park where we were greeted by about 22 vehicles, including loads of fire engines, ambulances and police cars.
“We were led to an ambulance where they put digital thermometers in our ears and asked loads of questions.
“When they realised we were just a bunch of good friends taking our kids on a heavy metal camping trip, that was the end of it.”
He said: “They kind of made us feel as if we did something wrong, but we just like to go wild camping, drink beer and listen to heavy metal music.”
Mr Filis said: “The police were all very professional and treated us OK, but we never had one word of apology from them for interrupting our camping trip.”
The group camped on Reed Bower Island, which is just north of Lochleven Castle.
The fortress was visited by Justin Beiber last year and is famously where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in 1567.
The ruin is protected as a scheduled monument in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “There was concern for people, who were traced safe and well later.”
…we just like to go wild camping, drink beer and listen to heavy metal music. DAVID HENDERSON