Latest news with #ScottFraser
Hamilton Spectator
10-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
CCTV coming to Crossroads speed camera after fourth act of vandalism
Someone's done it again. The Virgil speed camera outside Crossroads Public School was chopped down sometime Monday night — the fourth time since late May. 'We can confirm that this is a further instance of vandalism to the automatic speed enforcement camera located at Crossroads,' said Scott Fraser, associate director of transportation planning for Niagara Region, which owns and operates the device through a vendor. The Lake Report observed the camera intact Monday evening shortly after sunset. By early Tuesday morning, it had been cut down. Now, the region says it's going to go ahead with installing a security camera to watch over the speed camera. 'The region plans to move forward with the use of closed-circuit television,' said Jason Misner, senior communications specialist for Niagara Region. 'But a timeline for implementation has not yet been determined.' The region had reinstalled the speed on Monday after a previous act of vandalism — only for it to be destroyed again within hours. Installed in May, the camera was scheduled to remain until August as part of a regional initiative to reduce speeding in targeted areas and make regional roads safer. 'The (regional police service) is committed to promoting road safety and encourages both residents and visitors to follow traffic laws to help ensure a safe and enjoyable environment,' said Const. Luke Lindley with Niagara Regional Police. The use of speed cameras has drawn criticism, with some residents calling them a cash grab. 'It's hard to feel any sympathy for the region when it comes to this issue,' wrote Glendale resident Yousaf Shaikh in a letter from the July 3 edition of The Lake Report. 'Regardless, they are a cash grab! Plain and simple.' Since May 27, three replacement cameras at the same location have also been cut down. Police have not identified any suspects. The region is reviewing ways to better protect the equipment. Camera vandalism has increased across Niagara and elsewhere. In May 2024, three cameras were damaged in Smithville and Welland within days. The Globe and Mail also reported three similar incidents in the region in 2021. In Toronto, 325 acts of vandalism have been recorded against the city's 150 cameras, according to the Globe and Mail. To combat the problem, municipalities are considering more security measures, including closed-circuit television. Misner said CCTV is already used across Niagara to protect infrastructure and improve public safety. Officials are also evaluating different camera designs. Pole-mounted devices, like the one at Crossroads, may be more susceptible to tampering. 'Niagara Region utilizes both types of automated speed enforcement cameras,' Fraser said. 'Some are installed using a fixed permanent housing on a pole and some use a roadside mobile unit.' The Niagara Stone Road location uses a fixed unit installed in 2023 during the program's first phase. Newer sites, starting in January, began using mobile sites. Fraser said future deployments will consider vandalism rates when selecting camera types. Despite repeated damage, the Region says the program will continue. 'Despite these acts of vandalism, Niagara Region's automated speed enforcement program is an important component of Niagara Region's Vision Zero initiative,' Fraser said. 'The presence of ASE cameras has, overall, shown positive results in changing driver behaviour and reducing the number of speeding vehicles across the region.' Const. Rich Hingley of Niagara Regional Police said there are no new updates on the Crossroads incidents. Anyone with information is asked to contact Niagara Regional Police at 905-688-4111 or Crime Stoppers Niagara at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or . daniel@ Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Times
04-07-2025
- Times
Victims of serial abuser and conman united to face him in court
It was the moment Scott Fraser had dreaded — the women he had abused, lied to and stolen from united in a courtroom, facing him together. In September last year Fraser pleaded guilty at Aberdeen sheriff court to abducting Debbie McFarlane, his former partner, and defrauding her of £50,000. He was given a community sentence. McFarlane sat in the public gallery but she was not alone; beside her were Fraser's three former wives and his adult daughter. 'I had wanted my day in court,' she said. 'I wanted to face him and tell the court what he had done but when he pled guilty at the last minute I wasn't given the chance. 'But I saw a 6ft 5in man crumble and fall in a heap when he saw wife number one, number two, number three and his daughter.' Given her chance to speak, she would have laid bare harrowing details. McFarlane, 54, had been approached by Fraser on social media. He pretended to have met her in person through a business associate and bombarded her with messages. In 2018, they met in person and McFarlane was charmed by the towering and impeccably dressed figure. According to the women who came into his orbit, he was charming, witty, well-read and attentive — a catch. He would also recount a heartbreaking backstory. On their first date, Fraser wept and said his former wife had killed James, their six-month-old boy, in a drunken car accident. His late son was immortalised on his arm with a tattoo, he said. McFarlane's previous relationship of 12 years had broken down after the sudden death of her stepson, prompting her to return from Houston, Texas, to her home city of Aberdeen. A wealthy businesswoman, she was financially stable and Fraser suggested he was too. However, she loaned him £30,000 to tide him over while he concluded a 'multi-million pound deal with energy giants Shell'. When the pandemic lockdown was introduced, he moved into her flat and became increasingly abusive. During one incident, in January 2021, Fraser became furious during a meal. The court was told that he locked the front door, took a knife from the kitchen and threatened her, then seized her phone and held her prisoner in her bedroom for five hours. Later in the relationship Fraser claimed he had aggressive prostate cancer and had just months to live. She paid tens of thousands of pounds for stem cell treatment. Her closest friend, who was dying with cancer, told her she did not believe Fraser was battling the disease at all. McFarlane said: 'I thought it was just the morphine talking.' Fraser was charged with stealing £50,000 from McFarlane, who maintains the true sum is closer to £120,000. Unknown to her, Fraser had spent the final six months of their relationship seeing a woman in Cheshire, claiming he was away on business or receiving medical treatment. McFarlane reported him to the police, prompting others to come forward. Fraser's daughter, Lauren, got in touch, claiming her father was a fantasist and inveterate liar. His social media presence is almost non-existent with a sparse LinkedIn page, which he used to approach women by direct message. His digital life was almost exclusively on dating former partners have few pictures of him and only sketchy details of his past. 'I'm a beige man, I leave no footprints in the sand,' he told McFarlane. However, he has an extensive record at Companies is listed as a former director of a company called OIM Energy Group in Aberdeen, which was set up in June 2014 and dissolved in January 2017. He asked one woman to invest money in one of his enterprises, which she did — and lost it did work offshore on oil rigs for a time and overseas as an engineer but he was unable to hold down work for any significant length of time and is believed to have misrepresented himself and his skillset to employers. He also worked as an instrumental engineer for an international defence company but earnings as a serial conman proved far more lucrative. A police officer familiar with the case said: 'You go to work and do your job. This is his job, this is what he does.' Fraser had a very limited friendship group and his social life was based around dining out and drinking, although one woman said cars were his 'great passion'. He always had a pet dog. His former partner Helen O'Connor — whom he blamed for the death of his infant son — contacted McFarlane. There had been no baby, no car accident and she was, it emerged, Fraser's third wife. When McFarlane uncovered his lies she contacted him on FaceTime and said: 'The game's up.' 'He said: 'I'm a troubled man' and cut off the call. That's the last time we ever spoke,' she told The Times. O'Connor's father was the late comedian and TV presenter Tom O'Connor and she believes Fraser targeted her for her money. They were married for just months, and he had also told her the lie of a dead baby. Fraser had first married a woman in Aberdeen but the relationship broke down around 2000 and he moved to England. He quickly met and married his second wife, who had been prepared to give evidence in support of McFarlane before Fraser's guilty plea. That marriage ended in 2009. During his next relationship he was fined twice at Aberdeen sheriff court: in 2016 for an incident of abusive behaviour towards his partner and then in 2017 for an incident of violence causing fear and alarm. He pleaded guilty on both occasions. Women with whom he was involved say the relationships were never sexual and he used his 'prostate cancer' as an excuse to avoid physical intimacy. For Fraser the control of his romantic partners was psychological. O'Connor became his third wife in December 2017. She was prepared to be called as a witness in support of McFarlane, having had a similar experience with Fraser. This week, another of Fraser's former partners was ready to take the witness stand and tell a court what he had done. The woman in Cheshire, whom Fraser had been seeing behind McFarlane's back, is also a successful businesswoman. She and her business are well known in her community and she has asked to be known only as Karen. Fraser met Karen on a dating app in March 2021 and in person in June. 'He's a very intelligent guy,' she said. 'And he seemed to have led an interesting life, as I have too. 'He was extremely well dressed. He was a subtle, classy dresser — nothing too showy or flashy. 'He could converse on any level, he was well travelled. We never stopped chatting and talking.' Fraser moved to the Lake District from Aberdeen in October that year and then moved in with Karen. He told her the move was prompted by the death from sepsis of his daughter, Lauren. He was traumatised and needed a change of scene. It was only last year that Karen discovered Lauren was alive and well. Unlike in other relationships, Fraser contributed to the household expenses but his 'flashes of temper' caused alarm. The first two years of the relationship were relatively settled but in the final six months Fraser would become angry over 'trivial' incidents. 'He was angry, shouting, banging his fist on the table, and it was always in public, which was humiliating and frightening,' Karen, 60, said. His behaviour was so unpleasant that when Karen began to suspect he was having an affair she felt relieved and hoped he would leave. One night he flew into a rage after being excluded from signing a birthday card. He grabbed Karen by her dressing gown lapel, lifting her off the floor and threatening to hire someone to kill her family. When she refused to accompany him to Aberdeen, where he was due to appear at trial for stealing from McFarlane, he put his hand to her throat. 'He took the keys and stormed out and locked me in the flat. I have no idea how long he was away for because you lose all concept of time,' Karen said. 'I was terrified.' Fraser left for Aberdeen and two days later Karen read coverage of the court case. She immediately changed the locks and went to police. Terrified of his temper, she kept in touch with him while he was away, phoning and texting him and keeping up a pretence that everything was fine. Seven days after his court appearance in Aberdeen, Fraser returned to England and went straight to a meeting with his probation officer where he was arrested. In February this year he was banned from driving for 12 months and fined £700, having driven to his probation meeting in Karen's car without a licence or insurance. On Monday he pleaded guilty to the offence of intentional strangulation and is due to be sentenced later this month at Chester crown court. McFarlane and the other women are now hopeful that Fraser will be given a custodial sentence. They believe his behaviour has gone unchecked for too long. The strangulation offence took place two days before his court date in Aberdeen for the offences against McFarlane and she believes this illustrates his lack of remorse. Karen said: 'I sometimes hate myself. I am an astute businesswoman. I think, 'Why did I not see through it?' 'I ask myself all the time how he lured me in. I just think I felt sorry for him.'
Times
01-07-2025
- Times
Conman who faked cancer and dead son admits throttling woman
A convicted conman who tricked victims with fabricated stories of his child's death and pretended to have cancer has pleaded guilty to strangling a woman. Scott Fraser admitted a charge of intentional strangulation of his partner at the time on September 25 last year. Fraser, of Aberdeen, flew into a rage at the couple's home after an argument over a birthday card at a restaurant. • Non-fatal strangulation offence would be a deterrent, mother says He lifted his victim off the floor by the lapel of her dressing gown before threatening to kill her family, Crewe magistrates' court was told. Fraser pleaded guilty to the offence as the trial hearing was due to start on Monday. The court heard how Fraser met his then partner online and had been in a relationship with her for two and a half years. The relationship had been happy but in the six months leading up to the attack there had been regular arguments and verbal abuse from Fraser. Fraser, now of Nantwich, Cheshire, was out with the woman for dinner, having travelled to the venue in a separate car. The victim showed him a birthday card written to one of her friends, who was turning 70. It was signed from the victim and her two daughters, which prompted Fraser to become angry. The court was told that the 57-year-old said: 'You've done it again. F*** off.' The prosecutor told the court: 'She believes that the defendant was referring to her annoying him. She then decided to leave, got in her car and drove off. She went home, and the defendant arrived immediately after her.' Changing into her dressing gown and making tea, the victim tried to be civil with Fraser and calm him down. Fraser would not be placated and became angry about the fact the woman had said she would not accompany him to Aberdeen, where he was due in court for other offences. He told her: 'I'm going to drag you there kicking and screaming.' Fraser, who is 6ft 5in, then grabbed her on the collar of her dressing gown and lifted her off the floor into the air. He added: 'You're coming to Aberdeen with me, or I'll kill your f***ing family. 'I won't do it. I'll get someone else to do it. I've got people on speed dial.' The victim grabbed her phone and went to the bathroom to call her adult daughters but Fraser grabbed it from her and told her she was 'not going anywhere'. He pinned her against a wall by her throat and repeated: 'You're not going anywhere'. Eventually, the woman apologised for upsetting him and he calmed down. Fraser had earlier pleaded guilty to other offences from the same set of charges. He admitted driving without insurance and driving without a licence after being caught behind the wheel of the woman's car on his way to a meeting with his probation officer. The driving offences were heard at Warrington magistrates' court in February and Fraser was disqualified from driving for 12 months. He was also fined £700 and given six penalty points on his licence. • Serial abuser beat his partner to death while on curfew Fraser was already serving a community sentence after being convicted in September last year at Aberdeen sheriff court of abducting his then partner in Aberdeen and defrauding her of £50,000. The court heard Fraser had a tattoo of a baby, which he claimed to be his dead son despite actually having one daughter. He also falsely claimed to have prostate cancer. He was arrested and charged with the driving offences seven days later, having told the sheriff in the Scottish court he had 'turned over a new leaf'. Crewe magistrates referred the case to Chester crown court for sentencing in July.
BBC News
06-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Toughest part of my career' - Fraser on his Dundee injury hell
Midfielder Scott Fraser has opened up his "horrible" injury-ravaged season with 30-year-old midfielder had hernia surgery in November that led to complications and he only featured five times for the Dark Blues."I ended up having nerve damage that was causing me more pain, which was obviously unfortunate because from the outside looking in it is like, 'Oh he is injured again,' Fraser told BBC Scotland."It was frustrating because I never really got the chance to heal from the first surgery, so this week I managed to get myself down to London and hopefully got that fixed."It is frustrating because I feel like I missed out pretty much on a full season outwith my control."Honestly it was horrible, it is easily the toughest part of my career I have ever had, one of the hardest experiences of my life."I have a two-year-old daughter as well, who I couldn't play with, just because any sort of motion was sore."Fraser is now out of contract and back to fitness as he seeks a fresh start."My phone has been a bit busier than I probably would have expected having missed a full season," he added."The couple of people I have spoken to already at different clubs have said I am more than welcome to go in and train and prove my fitness. That is all I ask for really because if I am fit, ability wise I am good enough to go and play."
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'He cares so much' - what's it like to play under Martin?
What can the Rangers players - and fans - expect life to be like under new head coach Russell Martin?Attacking midfielder Scott Fraser is well versed to comment, having starred for Martin at MK Dons in English League who is out of contract at Dundee this summer, told BBC Scotland: "The way Russell wants his team to play suits modern football, it certainly suits the bigger clubs."When we were at MK Dons, we dominated possession but we also worked extremely hard off the ball. So it wasn't a case of just our centre-backs passing the ball between themselves, it was possession with a purpose of trying to get it forward, and when you do get it forward it is about trying to sustain those attacks."Fraser, 30, believes the Rangers players will "love" Martin's style of football, adding: "I think the fans will learn to love it as well."They will go to every game now knowing what to expect from their team."It is not just keeping the ball to try and look nice on the eye. He is very demanding on finishing the attack and if you can't finish the attack then you certainly sustain it by locking in."He doesn't let his centre-halves or deep midfielders sit back and watch the game, he expects them to be up on it, to be relentless with winning the ball back if they do lose it."Fraser was spent the 2020-21 season under Martin at MK Dons, winning the club's players' player of the year award."He is such a good guy first and foremost," he added. "But he has that really good balance of he is almost like a mate at times, but he has that good aura about him where you know he is the boss as well."He is so caring for his players, he would genuinely do anything for his players."When it is behind closed doors he is very hard on players as well but for the right reasons. He cares so much, he wants you to improve and I think that is what the Rangers players will really enjoy."Does Fraser have a message for Rangers fans who remain unconvinced by the appointment?"I would just say to give him a chance. A lot gets pointed at Russell about 'he doesn't have a plan B' but he is very clever in the way he can tweak things."So it might not look like he has changed a lot but for certain games he will definitely adapt to what needs to be done."I would tell the Rangers fans to just enjoy it, enjoy the journey. He is very process driven and it might take him a little bit of time to get things moving, but once he does I think they will really enjoy it."
