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Tag: Scotland

  • Gang Accidentally Filmed Themselves Prepping Drone Drug Drop

    Gang Accidentally Filmed Themselves Prepping Drone Drug Drop

    During an attempt to smuggle drugs into prison, Scottish gang members managed to give police ample evidence to lock them up.

    The Scottish gang members who accidentally filmed themselves loading up drugs on a prison-bound drone are now bound for prison themselves. 

    Paul Reilly and Michael Martin were hit with nearly four years in the hoosegow following their ill-fated flight, according to The Scotsman.

    The duo was aiming to send the drugs over the walls and into Perth Prison, where Martin’s brother was expecting to reel in the pills and pot, according to the New York Post.

    But, while packing the narcotics onto the remote flyer, Martin accidentally turned on the drone’s camera and recorded more than 18 minutes of footage of him and his gang prepping the drug load.

    “If there was an award for the movie with the most inept director,” prosecutor Michael Sweeney said, “then it would have been won by the accused.”

    The footage showed both men—along with a third still-unidentified suspect—neatly packing Kinder Eggs full of drugs to send into the prison. Though the video even managed to show the gang’s house number, the criminal crew turned out to be better at filming than they were at flying, as the drone was eventually found crashed outside the prison yard.  

    When they recovered the wrecked flyer, authorities found a micro SD card full of the incriminating evidence. 

    “I don’t think they were aware the drone was actually filming at that time. I’m assuming he was looking at the drone to check if it was on, if it was functioning,” PC Nicholas Schembri said in court. “He was maybe making sure it was properly set-up. From the footage I viewed you could see clearly a tattoo on his neck.”

    The crew tried to exercise some element of caution, covering their hands with gloves to shield their fingerprints and DNA from the drone—but that turned out to be a futile precaution.

    That arrest came just months after authorities in the UK collared another set of gang members accused of making dozens of drone flights into prisons. In that case, it was an outdoor wildlife camera that tipped off police to the illicit flying operation and landed eight people behind bars. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Cryptocurrency Addiction Treatment Program Launches In Scotland

    Cryptocurrency Addiction Treatment Program Launches In Scotland

    The announcement has sparked debate about the validity of digital currency addiction. 

    A hospital in the south of Scotland is offering what is described as the first residential treatment for dependency on cryptocurrency.

    Therapists at Castle Craig Hospital in Peeblesshire, which provides treatment programs for drugs and alcohol, will apply methods used to treat gambling addiction to assist individuals who have become dependent on trading digital currencies like Bitcoin.

    Though no scientific studies have been conducted to confirm whether dependency to cryptocurrency trading is an actual condition, medical professionals have concurred that the nature of bitcoin trading—which can yield or lose thousands of dollars at a moment’s notice—might cause some individuals to exhibit dependency-driven behavior when using it.

    In its coverage of Castle Craig’s bitcoin program, Metro UK quoted Chris Burn, a gambling therapist at the facility, who drew a connection between gambling dependency and similar behaviors linked to cryptocurrency.

    “The high risk, fluctuating cryptocurrency market appeals to the problem gambler,” he noted. “It provides excitement and an escape from reality. Bitcoin, for example, has been heavily traded and huge gains and losses were made.”

    His sentiments were echoed by therapist Tony Marini, whose struggles with gambling and cocaine dependency made him an ideal choice to lead some treatment sessions at Castle Craig.

    “I see cryptocurrency trading as a way for people to escape from themselves into another world, because they don’t like the world they’re in,” he stated. “The first stage of treatment is to join other addicts in group therapy and share their life stories. It helps them identify with each other and realize they’re not alone.”

    The notion of Bitcoin and other digital currencies as dependency-forming is not relegated to the staff at Castle Craig. The Austin, Texas-based Daily Dot referenced a 2014 online discussion on Reddit which, while largely humorous, did indicate that some users felt that Bitcoin was “like a drug” as one individual wrote.  

    For Dr. Timothy Fong, an associate professor of psychiatry at UCLA, the assessment has some merit. “You could replace the words ‘digital currency’ with ‘crack cocaine,’ ‘methamphetamine, ‘marijuana,’ or ‘gambling,’ and you’ll see some of those same kind of ways people talk about it,” he noted. 

    But he is hesitant to refer to dependency issues regarding bitcoin as an actual condition. “There is truth to that,” he said to the Dot. “But it’s a funny statement because you could say the same thing about sex, sports, handbags, a freshly-cut lawn, an ocean view—all those things are naturally rewarding, and they activate the portion of our brain that’s rewarding.”

    View the original article at thefix.com