Two years after he went missing, a sailor from Perthshire has officially been declared dead.
Royal Navy Leading Seaman Timmy MacColl disappeared while on shore leave in Dubai on May 27 2012.
Although a Dubai Police investigation is ongoing, the Royal Navy applied for a death certificate to say the 27-year-old, originally from Killin, was “presumed drowned”.
However, his wife, Rachael, has hit out at the move claiming officials have ignored her pleas to keep searching for Mr MacColl.
“It’s a nightmare. I fought the Royal Navy for months,” she said. “I said I didn’t support the application for a death certificate.
“They told me ‘that’s fine’ and they didn’t need me to.”
Mrs MacColl revealed she was left “gobsmacked” when the news was delivered to her last month at her home in Gosport.
She then had to deliver the heartbreaking news to her husband’s family as the Navy “refused” to let them know.
“For a couple of weeks, I didn’t tell anyone,” she said. “They refused to inform Timmy’s mother, Sheena, leaving me to tell her.
“The Navy said I’d be able to get a pension and that was their reason for doing it.”
The determined 27-year-old refuses to give up hope and is planning a time capsule memorial for her husband to “show him what he means to everyone if he comes back”.