Police in Newton Stewart can confirm the man who died in a suspicious death incident this morning (Saturday 15 October) is:

DAVID BROWN, aged 40 years, from Newton Stewart

Police are reminding members of the public that serious crimes such as this are rare in Dumfries and Galloway and a man has also already been detained in relation to this incident.

Officers are still keen to speak to anyone who has any information on the death or anyone who was in McGregor Drive in Minnigaff at around 00.00hrs on Saturday 15 October.

Information can be left with Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary on 0845 600 5701 or any police officer. Information can also be left anonymously with Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Locally based artist Gary Craig is fascinated by the uniqueness of people – their personalities, what they do, their mannerisms and how they see themselves. Gary’s perception shows in the quality of his work – his portraits seem full of energy and convey the characters of his subjects. This new exhibition in Gracefield Café Gallery is open until 12 November.

In preparation for creating a portrait Gary meets with his subjects and spends time talking to them before he starts drawing and painting. Describing his interaction with his sitter Gary says:

“To make the painting or drawing true to the subject I need to capture the idiosyncrasies or essence of the subject. Sometimes this can be portrayed quite easily but in other cases many studies are needed to achieve it. Honing in on that certain characteristic or mannerism can sometimes allow the subject to be shown accurately in a few well placed strokes of the brush or pencil.

“However the world is perceived, we are always making a statement as to who and what we are by the way that we present ourselves to the community. It is these various statements that people are making that I want to capture with my art, allowing each piece of work to tell its own story and letting the subject speak.”

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Do you want to help shape the future of Dumfries & Galloway?

Dumfries & Galloway Council remains committed to developing and strengthening our Council at local level and to provide services that meet the needs of the communities across the region.

As part of the new Area Framework model, our Council is enhancing opportunities for the public, community and voluntary sector to contribute to the decision making process through the development of Area Committee community meetings.

The first community meetings will be held in the Stewartry, Nithsdale Wigtown and Annandale and Eskdale areas to engage with members of the public, voluntary sector, community groups and key stakeholders on the types of key topics and issues that could be considered and discussed at future meetings.

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Iain Renicks sits in for Sheila Notman on Thursday drivetime his phone guest will be legendary music journalist and broadcaster Dave Fanning . Dave is considered to be the man who broke U2 onto mainstream radio . He has also interviewed many of musics glitterati from REM to Jon Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel to name just a few.                                                                                   He also hosts Dave Fanning interviews in Sky Arts.

Police are once again warning the public to be vigilant when using ‘hole in the wall’ cash machines after another device was found on a card machine in Moffat. This is the second time that a bank in the town has been targeted for this type of scam this year. The previous one being in March. The latest device was discovered at the bank of Scotland in the town on Saturday 8 October 2011 and police are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen any unusual activity around this ATM over the weekend Friday 7/Saturday 8 October timeline

Police are asking for the public’s help in reporting any suspicious activity near any cash dispensers to get in touch immediately.

Card skimming or cloning is a method used by criminals to obtain your details from your card. A device, created to look like the card entry point on the cash machine is fitted over the genuine slot, to passively skim the information encoded on the magnetic strip of the card. The details are stored and then used fraudulently. Once the cardholder’s details have been obtained the fraudster’s will focus on getting hold of the cardholder’s personal Identification Number.

PINs can be obtained in two ways. Firstly by shoulder surfing, whereby the fraudster will tailgate and stand behind the cardholder and look over their shoulder as they enter their number. A second method is by the use of a micro camera which can be installed in the lighting or false trunking on a cash machine to focus on PIN entry. Real-time images are then transmitted to a receiver attached to a hand held camera, typically within 100 metres of the cash machine. The details will then be matched to the corresponding card data.

Any suspicious activity at or near any cash machine should be reported to the police immediately. Any suspicions about cash machines should also be reported, either to the bank or building society, or to the police if out of business hours.

Police in Dumfries are investigating a serious case of vandalism at the Arnold Clark Garage in Annan Road Dumfries. Sometime over the weekend Friday 7 to Monday 10 October 2011, 29 cars in a compound at the garage have been vandalised. The cost of the damage to the cars is estimated to be in the region of £18000. Police are keen to hear from anyone who may have been in the vicinity of the garage over the weekend and who may have seen or heard anything suspicious.

Anyone with any information about this incident is asked to contact police on 0845 600 5701 or any police officer. Information can also be left with the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or online at Crimestoppers.uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court. Crime prevention advice can be found on our police website www.dg.police.uk

Police in Dumfries are investigating a robbery which took place on the cycle path at Nunholm, near to what is known as the Old Carnation Factory in Dumfries. About 1630 hours on Monday 10 October 2011 a 23 year old man was cycling along the path when he was approached and threatened by the following described two men who then took his bike from him along with a set of keys. The cycle taken is a blue coloured Raleigh mountain bike. The victim was not injured in the robbery however was shaken after the event. The two men are described as follows:

1) Male, aged between 18 and 25 years, white, 5’ 10” tall, medium build, medium length brown mousey hair, light stubble, wearing a grey hooded top, black tracksuit bottoms and white trainers.

2) Male, aged between 18 and 25 years, white, about 6’ tall, slim build, straight short black hair, and was wearing a black coloured top and black tracksuit bottoms.

Both men spoke with an English accent.

Anyone with any information about this incident is asked to contact police on 0845 600 5701 or any police officer. Information can also be left with the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or online at Crimestoppers.uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court. Crime prevention advice can be found on our police website www.dg.police.uk

Police are reminding members of the public to be aware of the dangers associated with bogus callers. The warning comes after a local woman received a call from an Indian sounding male who requested she went to a local bank to collect an UCash voucher. The caller then went out to state that once she did so they would attend with a cheque that she could cash for a four figure sum. Shortly later the woman then received a second call from a different male who claimed he would attend once she had the voucher. The woman requested that he attend in person and once she did so, he hang up before a third male called her shortly afterwards.

These callers were persistent and kept talking around the subject and repeatedly asked for the voucher code. At no point did the woman go and purchase a voucher code.

Police advice is to never give out personal or banking details to someone you do not know. Always check that the person requesting the information is genuine. Check about them by speaking to friends and family that you know and trust, check up on the person or company through the internet or visit the company they claim to work for in person in the high street store. If you receive any call that you think is suspicious, take down as much detail about the caller as possible, such as name, accent, telephone number and the company they claim to work for and hand into police. Remember if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t.

A joint investigation led by Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Benefit Fraud Section in conjunction with the Department of Work and Pensions, has resulted in a Castle Douglas man being fined £350 at Stranraer Sheriff Court.

William Patterson aged 70 of Cotton St, Castle Douglas was found guilty of obtaining benefit which he was not entitled to, by failing to disclose that he was receiving an Occupational Pension.

Overpayments of Council Tax Benefit and Pension Credit totalling in excess of £10,000 had occurred over a 6 year period to January 2010. These overpayments are recoverable in full.

The latest government estimate (2009/10) is that £1.1 billion is lost from public funds every year through all benefit fraud. For more information on how the council tackles benefit fraud, check the website www.dumgal.gov.uk

If you know of anyone committing benefit fraud you can contact the Council’s Benefit Fraud Team in confidence:

Tel: 0800 085 7449

email: benefit.fraud@dumgal.gov.uk

A road traffic crash ocurred earlier today, at a pedestrian crossing adjacent to McDonalds, on the Glasgow Road at around 2.45pm.  Only one car was involved in the incident. We understand that the car did not have any occupants, apart from the lady driver, who seemed to be shaken, but was able to relay events to police and emergency services in attendance.