1st killing in 30 years on Scottish isle?

Published: Oct. 5, 2007 at 1:02 AM

GLASGOW, Scotland, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Investigators are trying to determine if the island of Islay in Scotland has had its first homicide in three decades.

The mystery involves a local man, Peter Graham, who died Wednesday night at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley near Glasgow, The Scotsman reported. Graham had collapsed on the street near his house in Port Ellen on Islay on Sept. 20.

Police were not told immediately about Graham because his injuries were at first thought to be the result of falling down. But doctors decided that he might have been attacked.

Strathclyde Police said Thursday that the death was being treated as suspicious. An autopsy was scheduled for Friday.

Islay, the fifth largest Scottish island and the southernmost of the Hebrides, has a population of less than 2,000 people, most of them living in the major settlements of Bowmore, Port Ellen and Port Charlotte.

"Crime is not something we are used to here," said Robin Currie, a member of the Islay council.

Since the beginning of 2006, only four murders and a culpable homicide have been reported in Scotland’s Highlands and Islands district.

© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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