Latest news with #DuncanOrr
BBC News
30-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Borders councillor steps down from SNP after cannabis farm charge
A Scottish Borders councillor has stepped down from the SNP after being charged with drug Orr, 70, was arrested after the discovery of a cannabis farm at a property near Paxton, Berwickshire, in February last year. Her son Duncan Orr, 29, was also arrested and charged. They are expected to appear in court at a later date. The SNP said Orr had left the party while the investigation continued. She has remained in her role as councillor for the East Berwickshire ward. The cannabis farm was discovered after police were called to a report of men banging on the window of a remote property near Paxton late at night on 3 February 2024. When officers arrived they found no trace of the men, but did find cannabis with an estimated street value of about £500, spoke about the incident during at the SNP conference last year, but did not mention the discovery of the cannabis. At an event organised by the Scottish Police Federation and attended by Justice Secretary Angela Constance, Orr said she was "crying on the phone" and thought she "was going to die" when she called officers about two men outside the said it took 29 minutes for Police Scotland to arrive and that by then the two men had force said officers arrived at the "remote property" within 19 minutes of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service confirmed that the procurator fiscal had received a report "concerning a 70-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man in connection with an alleged incident in the Scottish Borders on 3 February 2024".
Times
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Times
SNP councillor resigns from party after £500,000 drug bust
An SNP politician has stepped down from the party after being charged with drug offences following the discovery of a cannabis farm at a rural property. Aileen Orr, a councillor and one-time party staff member for Mike Russell, the former SNP president and Nicola Sturgeon ally, was arrested after a drugs bust in the Borders in February last year. Orr, now 71, called the emergency services to report a break-in at a farmhouse on the outskirts of the Berwickshire village of Paxton. When police arrived at the property they did not locate any burglars but did find a cannabis cultivation with an estimated street value of £500,000. Orr was arrested and charged last year, as was her 29-year-old son, Duncan Orr. A report is due to be submitted to prosecutors and a court date will be set in due course.
