Farmer with strong Angus connections killed in tragic accident

Machinery Claims
Lincolnshire Claims


A farmer with strong Angus connections has died in tragic circumstances at his Lincolnshire home.

William Laird (81) was working on the family farm nearConingsby on Friday afternoon when he was struck by a teleporter handling vehicle being driven by one of his five sons.

The victim's younger brother, Ivan, is a well-known figure in Angus agricultural circles and spoke of the devastation of family members on both sides of the border.

The victim was the elder son of the late William Laird of Inverquharity Mill, near Kirriemuir, and although schooled in Lanark retained close ties to Angus before moving south in the late 1950s.

He trained as a draughtsman and after National Service took over Providence Farm in the hamlet of New York, around 20 miles south-east of Lincoln.

Mr Laird and his wife, Hilda, have five sons. Four of them — Gordon, Douglas, Graham and Malcolm — followed their father into farming and were involved in running the successful mixed operation at New York. The couple's other son, Ian, is a vet based at Providence Farm.

Friday's tragedy happened when Malcolm was feeding cattle. Although the exact circumstances of the accident are unclear, it appears he tragically ran over his father when operating the teleporter.

Speaking to The Courier, Ivan Laird said: ''We are not sure exactly what happened but they were working outside and William was unsighted to Malcolm, who was driving the teleporter.

''It was failing light but we do not know the full circumstances. It is a tragedy which has left the whole family shattered.

''William was just one of those lads who wouldn't retire and continued to work on the farm with the four boys. The way it happened is dreadful and the family are devastated.''

He said the Lincolnshire operation was well known as finishers of beef cattle and the family's agricultural involvement also included organising ploughing matches.

''The boys' wives are all very active in the community. New York is just a small place and this will have hit many people very hard down there,'' added Mr Laird, from Justinhaugh, nearForfar.

''William was very keen on carriage driving and was president of the British Driving Society in his area.

''We were schooled in Lanarkshire after my father joined the police there, but the family's roots are in Angus and it has always been regarded as home. When we were younger we came back here at every opportunity.''

Lincolnshire police confirmed they were aware of the tragedy, but their involvement in the matter had concluded and no further investigation would be carried out.

The Health and Safety Executive was also part of the inquiry.

It is understood the matter has now been passed to the local coroner's office, which will handle the post mortem arrangements before the release of Mr Laird's body for a funeral to take place.

source: thecourier.co.uk

Bowel cancer screening 'does cut deaths'

Cancer Misdiagnosis

A bowel cancer screening programme in England is on course to cut deaths by a sixth, say researchers studying results from the first million people tested.

However, the work, published in the journal Gut, has raised concerns that the programme, launched in 2006, misses tumours in certain parts of the colon.

Testers checked a faeces sample for signs of abnormal bleeding.

The researcher who analysed the results said money should be spent on bringing in more sensitive tests.

Approximately 16,000 people a year die from bowel cancer, making it second only to lung cancer as a cause of death in the UK.

Part of the reason for the high mortality rate is that symptoms often do not appear until cancer is advanced and harder to treat.

The screening programme aims to catch the tumours earlier, meaning more patients can be cured.

Several million people aged 69 and over have now been screened, with approximately half of those invited taking part.

When results from the first 1.08 million taking part were collated, it was found that 2.5% of men and 1.5% of women had received an abnormal result, and were sent for further tests, usually colonoscopy, in which a tube with a camera on the end is passed into the colon.

Early stage cancers

Among the men with abnormal results, 43% turned out to have either cancer or pre-cancerous growths in their colon. The figure for women was 11.6%.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

There is a much better test available, but it will cost money to introduce it, and that money is not currently there”

Prof Richard LoganUniversity of Nottingham

Most of these were early-stage cancers, which are generally easier to treat.

Professor Julietta Patnick, director of the NHS Cancer Screening Programmes, said she was "delighted" by the results.

"We are pleased to be on track to cut bowel cancer deaths by our target of 16% - early detection is crucial to lowering the number deaths from bowel cancer."

However, the test appeared to be less effective at spotting cancers in the upper section, or "right side" of the colon.

Cancer statistics from millions of people diagnosed with the disease suggest that for every three cancers in the left side of the colon, there will be one in the right side.

However, of the thousands of cancers found by the screening test, only 14% were on the right side.

Questions remain

Prof Richard Logan, of Nottingham University, who led the study, said it was not yet fully understood why cancers on the right-hand side were not showing up during screening.

Among the possibilities, he said, were that they grew faster, and were more likely to be diagnosed conventionally, or that they were less likely to bleed and trigger a positive test result.

However, he said that the current blood test was "old fashioned", and should be replaced by a more modern alternative which might be more sensitive.

He said: "There is a much better test available, but it will cost money to introduce it, and that money is not currently there."

A spokesman for the screening programme said that the move to the new test was being "actively considered", although no date had been set for a change.

Deborah Alsina, the chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK, welcomed the results, adding that separate moves to widen access to a form of colonoscopy called flexible sigmoidoscopy would also improve screening.

"As a higher proportion of cancers are being found in the left side of the bowel than predicted, the rollout of flexible sigmoidoscopy screening in the new year will help to save even more lives.

"However, this does need to be rolled out quickly with a sustained focus on areas with low uptake of screening."

source: bbc.co.uk