Massive Crime Wave Hits Hebrides

I posted yesterday about the Hebridean island of Canna and its global search to find two new families to come live on the island. It was reported to be one of the safest places in Britain and rat free to boot. But sadly, the innocence of the Hebrides has been shattered and its vaunted crime-free status ruined.

There was a burglary on the island of Colonsay.

The culprit, who was later caught, was fined 400 pounds and ordered to pay compensation to his victim, after snatching the cash on Colonsay, off the west coast, where there has been no crime at all since 2004.

The Hebridean isle — where locks are reportedly rusted through lack of use — is home to only 125 people and is seen as one of Britain's safest places.

Friday's Daily Telegraph reported that the island's part-time policeman Don McLeod swooped on thief James Harvey, 38, from Glasgow, who was stranded on Colonsay for several days while he waited for a ferry back to the mainland.

Harvey's victim, "Wee" (little) Davie Sutherland, 75, was quoted as saying: "I suppose it was only 60 pounds but it just doesn't happen here.

Wee Davie says he hasn't even got a lock on his door.