Forres businessman Graham Murdoch calls for improved 101 Police Scotland service

A LOCAL businessman would like to see an improved service from police after an incident outside his shop.

Graham Murdoch of Murdoch Brothers Butchers discovered someone sleeping on the bench next door at the gates of Andersons Primary and attempted to call the police to have the person removed before pupils arrived for school.

He said: “I was on my way to work at 7.15am on Monday, August 29 and drove past something on the bench outside the front of the shop. I parked out the back, walked through and saw that it was a full sleeping bag, zipped up to the top. There was a smashed vodka bottle, boots and a chocolate wrapper in front of the bench. I didn’t want to wake whoever was inside so I called 101. I got a recorded message advising of a substantial delay in answering because of high demand. I held on for five minutes before hanging up. I tried again around an hour later with the same result.”

Police arrived at 9am. An officer advised Graham that the man actually has an address but rough sleeps around the area. Police added he is usually no trouble and was moved on.

The Gazette must contact Police Scotland’s corporate communications national news desk for information about local incidents. A spokesman confirmed he had looked into it and checked with local officers.

He added: “We had no calls to that location and no reports relating to a homeless person in Forres on Monday, August 29. Being homeless isn’t strictly a police matter.”

Graham described the 101 service as “pathetic”.

He finished: “It’s difficult to report so callers give up. In this case,

police said someone called in, and they responded two minutes after being informed by the central call centre team. That means another caller with more time to wait was

responded to. Folk lose interest in reporting crime, giving false statistics.”