A Lerwick man who pulled his wife out of bed and beat her so badly she needed morphine in hospital for the pain has avoided further time in prison. Instead, George Michael Watt, 45, was let out on probation to live at his mother’s house in town after spending the equivalent of a five-month sentence in jail on remand.

Lerwick Sheriff Court heard that the door was “not entirely closed” on the relationship between Watt and his wife and family with some contact having resumed since the attack on 19th May.

The latest Liverpudlian heroin courier to be jailed at Lerwick Sheriff Court said he was forced at gunpoint to make the trip to Shetland in punishment for having beaten up a man with drug gangster connections.

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Britain’s seabird populations are suffering a steep and perilous decline, according to new figures released by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the government’s conservation adviser.

A Brae teenager with a burgeoning criminal career was jailed for a year and banned from driving for three years at Lerwick Sheriff Court today.

The Shetland Bookstart programme for young readers has been relaunched by Shetland Library this month as Bookbug.

Delting will take on Whalsay in the final of the Fraser Cup after wins over Scalloway and Whitedale respectively. Meanwhile in the G&S Flooring Premier League Celtic beat Thistle, Spurs overcame Whitedale and Whalsay took the points when Ness were unable to field a team.

Upon returning from an eight-month world tour I have been lucky enough to fall back into my job with the council working on the essy kert. Now, on the whole, I enjoy my job. The pay is good, I’m out in the fresh air from start to finish, I’m pretty much getting a full body work out every day and I come home after each round satisfied in the knowledge I’ve done a good honest day’s work.

The super yacht Lady B in Lerwick Harbour recently generated a lot of comment, not least how the single carbon mast at 179ft (approx. 54 metres) towered over the town (The Shetland Times front page, 9th July). An amazing view could be seen from Sound entering the town from South Mainland.

It may interest your readers to know that not all shops in the so-called town centre are members of the Lerwick Town Centre Association, nor indeed do these businesses necessarily agree with the views put forward by the said association.

While I was a critic of Mareel at first, based entirely on the somewhat imaginative business plan (I still cannot see it can pay its way), I have to say what a positive and upbeat interview the arts development agency boss gave on Radio Shetland’s Tuesday evening programme.