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May 19, 2025 • 11 mins
In this "Scotland Then" episode we explore historical events from October 1985. We cover diverse stories, including a Yorkshire visitor's misadventures in Oban, a tragic fatal accident due to a misplaced breathing tube, a fatal wedding day altercation, two murders involving young perpetrators, and a museum T-shirt design competition.
The episode highlights the challenges of finding complete information on historical events, and encourages listener engagement regarding the T-shirt competition outcome.

SOURCES:
Please see our website for all source material and photos at scottishmurders.com/episodes/philipwong

BRITISH NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE AFFILIATE:
British Newspaper Archive

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CREDITS:
Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn
Researched, Written, Edited and Hosted by Dawn Young
Production Company Name by Granny Robertson

MUSIC:
ES_Tudor - Bonnie Grace - epidemicsound
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of Scotland. Then today's stories are
taken from The Scotsman on the ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, sixteenth,
and seventeenth of October nineteen eighty five, around about the
same time that Philip Wong was brutally murdered. There's quite
a few stories to tell you about today, so let's
get started. So, as you know by now, I'm from Open,

(00:35):
so I'm always going to tell you about stories I
read that take place in Open and today's Oben story
is titled Oben's Rainy Day Romeo was a washout in
the quent town of Oben. A Yorkshire visitor's attempts to
brighten up a dreary day ended in a courtroom appearance.

(00:56):
Terence summer Gil, a forty year old clerical officer from Scarborough,
found himself in hot water after offering his services as
a male shripper to local women and inviting others to
engage in intimate activities. Despite his efforts, no one to
come up on his offer, and complaints were swiftly lodged
with the police. Terran Summersgill, who had no prior offenses,

(01:19):
admitted to four charges of breach of the peace. The
court heard that he approached groups of young women, suggesting
they gather friends for a strip show, but he was
met with disinterest. He also made inappropriate advances towards teenage girls,
some under sixteen, which were similarly rebuffed. In his defense,
Terin Summersgill explained that he was single on holiday alone

(01:43):
and I was bored with all the rain and had
nothing else to do. The court deferred his sentence for
a year, as he was previously a man of good
character and I'm not sure what happened. A year later,
the next article was titled Breathing tube was in wrong place.
This tragic incident was recounted at Huddington's Sheriff Court, where

(02:05):
a fatal accident inquiry revealed the unfortunate death of a
thirty four year old nurse due to a misplaced breathing tube.
Sandra McLain from Huddington, was admitted to Rudland's Hospital with
a perforated peptic ulcer which required emergency surgery. The aneathitist,
doctor Karen Bell, despite many attempts, was unable to put

(02:27):
a tube into the patient's windpipe due to Sandra McClain
having a small jaw which obscured the aneathitist's view, and
as by this point Sandra was turning blue, she asked
the surgeon, doctor Peter Small, to make a hole in
Sandra's windpipe. However, as doctor Small was experienced in inserting
breathing tubes, he decided it would be quicker if we

(02:48):
tried to insert the tube himself. However, he too experienced difficulty,
but eventually the breathing tube was inserted and he. A
junior surgeon, and doctor Bell agreed that the tube had
been correctly inserted. However, Sandra McLean's condition deteriorated and within
half an hour she was beyond recovery, and it was

(03:09):
discovered that the breathing tube had in fact been placed
in Sandra's gullet instead of her windpipe. The inquiry also
highlighted that a new, longer lasting drug had been used
to induce relaxation, with effects lasting up to twenty minutes
instead of five minutes with the usual drug, and that
this too may have contributed to the delay in recovery,

(03:30):
as if the usual drug had been administered to Sandra instead,
this might have improved her chances as she would have
started to breathe again on her own sooner. Doctor Bell,
the anathstotist, did call for a senior anathotist to attend,
but by the time they arrived it was too late.
Sandra was already dead. Defense agent Robert Dixon noted that

(03:53):
the combination of the misplaced tube and the drug choice
were factors, but Sandra Maclin's existing health issues of hurt
and liver trouble also played a role. The article ended
by saying that Sheriff Principle Sir Frederick O'Brien qc was
expected to deliver his judgment at the end of the week,
but despite scouring the Scotsman newspapers for the rest of

(04:15):
that week and the following week, I was unfortunately and
annoyingly unable to find the judgment. So the next couple
of stories there are also no conclusions, but they just
are such random murders, the first being that a boy
of fifteen years old had been sent to trial accused
of battering twenty year old Leslie McGowan, a mother of

(04:38):
two young children, to death, by striking her repeatedly on
the head with bricks in a wood behind a social
club in Lanarkshire. He was remanded in custody and a
trial was due to take place at the High Court,
and that's it. Obviously, the boy, being under sixteen, wasn't named,
and despite searching online, I was unable to find any

(04:58):
more about this, and I didn't know when the trial
took place or couldn't search the British newspaper archives. So
on to the second random murder, being that a twelve
year old girl had stabbed a relative to death. The
twelve year old girl from Edinburgh was involved in the
tragic death of her twenty year old step brother, of
which she admitted to culpable homicide. The High Court in

(05:19):
Edinburgh heard the case, with Lord Ross, Lord Justice Clerk
deciding to refer the matter to her Children's Hearing for
guidance on the most suitable course of action, of which
again I don't know the outcome. However, a psychiatric evaluation
revealed that the girl's actions were impulsive, lacking any premeditated
intent to harm, and that she had not fully comprehended

(05:42):
the severity of her actions. Advocate deput Mister James McGee
QC described the situation as tragic. So what had happened? Well?
The girl's mother along with a friend, had been drinking
homemade wine, and the girl partook as well. Although it
was in certain if her behavior was genuine or feigned,

(06:03):
she did appear to be affected by the alcohol, and
efforts were made to sober her up with coffee and
a cold bath. It was said that the adults had
struggled to understand what she was saying, suggesting that she
might have consumed enough to be genuinely affected. Later, her
blood alcohol level was recorded at twenty, meaning significantly impaired.

(06:23):
The adults, however, then left the premises and the girl
was reported of attempted to extract money from the television meter,
telling her friends to keep watch. A television meter was
something used to collect money when you were renting a television,
which was quite common back in the nineteen eighties. However,
her brother discovered her trying to get this money, which
led to a heated exchange between the pair, with her

(06:46):
twenty year old step brother striking her with a shopping
bag and a slipper. The girl was then chased into
the kitchen by her stepbrother, which she impulsively grabbed a
sharp kitchen knife and plunged it into her stepbrother's chest.
Mister mc key noted that the siblings typically shared a
good and warm relationship. Mister Andrew hardieq youc, who was

(07:06):
representing the girl, told the court that the step brother
had then said look what you have done, which then
prompted the girl to scream, alerting neighbors to the scene
almost immediately. He went on to say that the girl
has expressed deep remorse for our actions and that's where
it ends. And I've no idea what happened to the girl.

(07:29):
The next article I found was titled A man is
admonished on death charge. In a frantic turn of events,
a Paisley man found himself in court following a tragic
incident on his wedding night the previous year. William Porter,
aged thirty one, was initially charged with the murder of
nineteen year old Francis McLaughlin. The incident unfolded after William

(07:51):
Porter had married at a registrar's office and returned with
his new bride to their home on Blackford Road for
the reception. The celebration, however, took a dark turn when
a group of twenty intoxicated youths attempted to crash the
reception in the ensuing chaos, William was struck by a bottle,
where he sustained injuries that required stitching, and the unruly

(08:14):
mob hurled bottles, cans, and bricks through the windows, which
escalated the situation. In a desperate bid to protect the
children and guests present, William retaliated with a fish knife,
resulting in the death of one man, nineteen year old
Francis McLaughlin, and the injury of another. William pleaded guilty
to culpable homicide and his sentencing was deferred. However, the

(08:38):
court heard that William acted out of a perceived need
to protect those at the reception, including the children present,
as several guests had been hurt by flying debris and
others had been physically assaulted, with a presiding judge, Lord
Wiley acknowledging this by saying that it was a disgraceful
attack on his home and while his actions didn't constitute

(08:59):
self defense, they came very close to it. Again, I
wasn't able to find out what a sentence was, but
by what the judge said, I imagine there could possibly
have been some leniency and finally a bit of liberty.
The next article was a design a t shirt competition.

(09:20):
Let me know if you took part or if you won.
As again I wasn't able to find this out. In
celebration of the merger between the Royal Scottish Museum and
the National Museum of Antiquities, which became known as the
Royal Museum of Scotland, young creatives under sixteen were invited
to design a commemorative T shirt. The design, which could

(09:40):
draw inspiration from exhibits at Chambers Street or Queen Street,
could include imagery or text, but for those that were
unable to visit, a reference materials could be requested. It
said that designs should be clear, simple and avoid excessive
colors or dates, and that the winning design would be
sold at the museum for a limited period of time.

(10:00):
Prizes included a short break in York, a family ticket
to a pantomime and vultures, and entries had to be
submitted by the eighth of November nineteen eighty five to
the Scotsman's Publicity Department. This sounded really quite fun and
I wonder if any of our listeners took part in this,
won this, or even bought the winning design T shirt,
because again, and I know I'm not doing very well

(10:22):
on this episode. I wasn't able to find out this
information and I would love to know. I hope you
enjoyed hearing about just a few articles from The Scotsman
from Toburt nineteen eighty five. If you'd like to find
out more and dive deeper into the stories I covered
today and maybe you'll find something I missed, then it's

(10:43):
the British newspaper archives I use. I'll include an affiliate
link in the show notes. Join us again next week
for a new Scottish Murder's episode, where I'll be telling
you a short story about a solved murder from nineteen
seventy one, a case where a police officer felt compassion
for the seventeen year old murderer. I wonder if you
too will fuel compassion after hearing the story. So until

(11:06):
next time, I've been your host, Dawn. Scottish Murders is
a production of Chlorine Tone
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