Sir, I am appalled at the sensationalising, and almost glamorising, of the recent death of Ronnie Biggs. It is disturbing that he is almost seen as an anti-hero.
The fact of the matter is, he took part in a violent criminal act from which the victim was never to recover and, in fact, died seven years later a broken man.
Ronnie Biggs was a violent criminal who evaded justice for years and only came back to the UK to get free treatment at the taxpayers’ expense.
Has this country become so depraved that it needs to laud somebody like that in this way?
I don’t think the family of Jack Mills would be happy with, or support, this sort of coverage of Biggs’ death and the media are doing nothing but showing great disrespect to the family with the way they are acting.
Gordon Kennedy. 117 Simpson Square, Perth.
Dog owners must take responsibility
Sir, I refer to Finbarr McCarthy’s letter (December 18) regarding dog mess in Dawson Park.
The Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 came into effect on October 22, 2003. This made it an offence for any person responsible for a dog not to dispose of its excrement appropriately.
Dundee City Council has officers patrolling the city to ensure compliance with the legislation. Anyone found failing to comply with the legislation is issued with a fixed penalty of £40, rising to £60 if not paid within 28 days.
Dundee City Council provides free dog waste bags which can be collected at various locations across the city, including libraries and vets’ practices. We issue approximately four million of these bags per year. In addition, there are 1300 red bins provided which collect 180 tonnes of waste.
Notwithstanding this, I recently requested a review into the overall policy surrounding dog waste issues and expect to bring a paper before the environment committee in early 2014. This includes identifying and acting upon “hot spots” with, hopefully, an extended number of officers in a position to issue penalty notices.
However, the simple solution is for these irresponsible dog owners to take control of their own irresponsible and illegal actions by adhering to the legislation in place.
In the meantime, if anyone has witnessed an incident in their area within Dundee or are aware of a problem with a dog waste bin please contact the Animal Control Section on (01382) 436285 or by email at animal.control@dundeecity.gov.uk
Cllr Craig Melville. Convener of Dundee City Council’s Environment Department, City Square, Dundee.
Not just dogs’ mess on parks
Sir, While I fully agree with Mr McCarthy (Courier letters, December 18), regarding dog mess in parks, I would say that I frequently walk my dog on the area of the football parks at Monifieth, near the Barry Buddon range.
On days after football matches have taken place, the amount of discarded bottles, cans and even medical dressings, presumably torn off injuries, and pieces of equipment left strewn around the area is quite appalling, so it is not only dog owners who need to be reprimanded.
Perhaps the trainers of these young male footballers at Monifieth should teach the team some kind of responsibility and to leave the park in a proper state for others.
Fiona McMillan. 6 Ethiebeaton Terrace, Monifieth.
Won’t use this service again
Sirs, I had the misfortune of having to use the 118118 directory enquiries (could not remember any other ones) for a phone number for Perth Royal Infirmary (could not find it anywhere either) so dialled 118118 and said number only given.
I received my telephone bill on Monday and for the 47-second call I was charged £3.58p. I will certainly not be using that enquiry line again. It’s a complete rip-off.
Rita Wilson. The Kennels, Kinross.
Now we tiptoe through tulips
Sir, The UK Government doesn’t have an energy policy and the people to blame for that are the Greens. They have kept successive politically correct and environmentally sincere governments in fear of nuclear power and good old fashioned coal and gas power stations.
What we have instead is a tiptoe through the tulips wonderland of windmills and wood burning and woolly hats and gloves made from recycled fell-walkers’ socks, to keep us warm when the electricity fails.
Malcolm Parkin. 15 Gamekeepers Road, Kinnesswood, Kinross.
No comment
Sir, You recently reported Alex Salmond’s indignation at the number of people in Dundee seeking help from food banks. The same issue also reported that Mr Salmond and his party, on a recent junket to the USA, spent £80,000 on food and drink in one week. No need to comment really, is there?
Derek Smith. 10 Liff Park, Liff.