THIS week’s look into our archives takes us back 12 years – when a Greenock marine who was commended after snaring armed pirates on his first-ever operation had hopes of visiting war-torn Afghanistan.
David Elliott, 23, was aiming to join fellow commandoes in the troubled country after his first taste of action spurred him on.
The junior marine said he was determined to continue his success and put all of his gruelling training into practice.
David, from Riverside Road, had been awarded a NATO operational medal for the part he played in a dangerous counter piracy operation off the coast of Somalia.
Meanwhile, MSPs were calling for a probe into how a contract was awarded for a Gourock ferry service.
People using the Gourock to Kilcreggan route had said they are worried about the size of the boat and the timetable.
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) transferred the contract at the start of April from Clyde Marine Services of Greenock to Clydelink Ltd to save money.
Bosses at SPT insisted they were confident about the new service, but a motion criticising it had been put before the Scottish Parliament by Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie.
It was supported by Duncan McNeil MSP of Greenock and Inverclyde, who had already voiced worries about the matter.
Elsewhere, a young basketball enthusiast from Inverclyde was coaching the stars of tomorrow — thanks to a scheme that put the ill-gotten gains of criminals to good use.
Robin Carmichael, 21, from Wemyss Bay, was working to inspire other children to take up basketball with his level two coaching qualification which had been funded through the Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities programme.
It took cash recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act and invested the funds back into community programmes.
Robin, who started playing basketball at the age of five and starred for a number of different teams up to national college level, worked as Basketball Scotland’s west regional development officer.
In other news, a musician from Gourock had created a unique tool to help people worldwide understand west of Scotland slang.
Favourite sayings such as ‘away an bile yer heid’ are heard on a daily basis in many a household in Inverclyde and beyond.
But people outside the country, or even from the east coast, often struggle to understand their meaning and the unique west coast humour.
Local musician Henry Gorman, of the Henry Gorman Band, had combined his expertise in the music and audio industry with his hobby of creating mobile phone applications.
He had developed the hilarious ‘The Banter’ app, which is a funny guide to Scottish slang, offering audio translations and examples of words like ‘heid’ or ‘howfin’ and popular phrases.
In sports news, Morton chairman Douglas Rae blasted a section of the club’s fans for abusing players — and vowed to ‘exclude’ anyone caught doing so in future.
The club supremo said the team’s poor home form could be explained by some supporters’ verbal attacks on the team.
And he issued a plea to fans in the Cowshed, asking them to provide him with a list of names who they believe should be banned from the ground.
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