A grisly chapter in Paisley’s gangland past was finally closed yesterday as former crime boss Stewart Gillespie was laid to rest.

Hundreds of mourners turned out to bid farewell to 53-year-old Gillespie, who died during adisturbance at his home in the Gallowhill area of town earlier this month.

Back in the 1990s, dad-of-two Gillespie was among the most feared men in Paisley.

He was released from prison two years ago, having served 14 years behind bars for the murder of rival drug dealer Mark R...

Detectives probing the death of Paisley gangster Stewart Gillespie have made an arrest.

A 28-year-old man was charged with the 53-year-old’s murder on Saturday.

On Wednesday, crime boss Gillespie – a convicted murderer infamous for his role in the town’s drug wars in the 1990s – was found dead at his daughter’s flat in Gallowhill’s Glencairn Road.

A 32-year-old man was also seriously wounded in the incident.

Yesterday a Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said: “A 28-year-old man has bee...

A mother forced to flee to Spain with her autistic son has called for an inquiry to be held into his “negligent” care by psychiatrists.

Andrew MacVicar left his home in Gallowhill, Paisley, last month in a bid to escape drug treatment required by law.

And he was joined by his desperate mum, Christine, who believes her son’s treatment was driving him to the brink of suicide.

Police are currently making enquiries into the whereabouts of the mother and son as Andrew is the subject of a Compul...

Officers were called to a property in the Gallowhill area shortly before 11pm where they found two men with serious injuries.

One man, aged 53, died at the scene, while a 32-year-old man was rushed to the town's Royal Alexandra Hospital, where staff today described his condition as "serious but stable".

Police cordoned off the flat in Glencairn Road and officers remained at the scene today.

Door-to-door inquiries are being carried out in the area, and police are checking CCTV images.

A post morte...

SHOCKED cops found a mum lying dead in her home after they smashed down her door.

The 44-year-old – named locally as Sharon Pratt – was discovered by police on Saturday afternoon.

Officers had been drafted in after they received calls from friends concerned for her welfare.

Cops had to break down the door at her flat in Cluny Drive, Gallowhill ... and once inside, they found the mother-of-one’s body.

Police are examining whether the former Castlehead High pupil’s death was caused by a sus...

POLICE last night appealed for help to trace a pervert who indecently assaulted a teenage girl on a bus.

The 17-year-old victim was sitting next to the man, who is thought to be aged around 50, when he pounced.

They had been travelling on the number 64 bus from Paisley town centre towards Gallowhill just after 6pm on Monday when the incident happened.

The upset teenager got off the bus and noticed that the man had also disembarked.

She then went home and told her mum what had happened. At that st...

Work is starting today (Wednesday July 11) on the refurbishment of Gallowhill Court, a high-rise tower block in Paisley, Renfrewshire.

Almost 6,000 square metres of Hanson Structherm’s structural external wall insulation (SEWI) is being used in the 32-week project, by Full Façade Solutions for Renfrewshire Council.

Brian Monaghan, Hanson Structherm national sales manager, said: “Our SEWI system provides a cost-effective external refurbishment solution to greatly improve the thermal perform...

A GROUP of caring schoolkids are fighting back against cyber bullies – and their plan is so successful it looks likely to hit other schools.

The youngsters at Gallowhill Primary have been praised after setting up a business aimed at making sure their pals do not get caught up in a web of hate online.

The pupils picked up a Social Enterprise in Schools Award for the anti-cyber bullying business, Support Me.

The enterprising P7 pupils deliver workshops to younger pupils in their school warning y...

A WORRIED mum fears that a broken fence outside her home could become a death trap for her disabled kids.

Tracey Clements has been complaining to Renfrewshire Council for more than a year about the state of the garden at the back of her council flat in Gallowhill’s Dundonald Road.

And now she has told the Paisley Daily Express that the fence – which has broken wood and nails protruding from it – could cause an injury to her three children.

“I stay in a four-in-a-block flat with a back ga...

MORE than 100 pupils, parents and staff were ‘growing places’ when they took part in a woodland shrub project.

And they all agreed on thing – they had a muddy marvellous time.

The two-day project took place at Gallowhill Primary School, in Paisley, and the end result should go a long way to helping them achieve their first Eco Green Flag.

Primary Four teacher, Caroline Fitzgerald, headed up the project and insisted she was impressed with the knowledge shown by pupils BEFORE the presentatio...

A FURIOUS grandmother who has watched three generations of her family proudly serve the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders has hit out at cost-cutting measures which could see the battalion being disbanded.

Helen Adam’s grandson Gary currently serves as a corporal in the Argylls after following in the footsteps of his uncle and great-uncle, both named John Adam.

And 75-year-old Helen, from Gallowhill, Paisley, is outraged that the UK government is considering scrapping the battalion in a bid t...

CALLS have been made for an independent investigation into child protection services in Renfrewshire after a report highlighted a “systemic failure”.

Renfrewshire South MSP Hugh Henry and Paisley councillor Mark Macmillan said they are shocked by the damning findings of a Significant Case Review into the way a family was let down by the authorities.

The review focused on a family known only as Family 10 and concluded that “an urgent response was required by all agencies to address failure...

A DRUNKEN streaker left staff and patients at a busy hospital stunned when he stripped off his clothes and began to wander naked around the accident and emergency department.

Frantic nurses tried to urge 40-year-old Dalginder Singh to put his clothes back on as he attempted to enter various examination rooms at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

However, he paid no heed and, eventually, the police had to be summoned to protect his modesty.

The bizarre incident took place after Singh had been taken to...

TRAGIC tot Declan Hainey hadn’t been seen by any health staff or his grandparents for a full YEAR before he was found dead.

Yesterday, the Paisley Daily Express told how a damning report by the Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee concluded that social workers and health staff had no fewer than 19 chances to see little Declan – but were kept at bay by his murderous mum Kimberley.

Evil Hainey, who had drink and drugs problems, was jailed for life in January following a trial at the High C...

WORK is to begin in May on a multi-million pound social housing development.

Councillors have given the green light to build 71 houses for social rent in the Gallowhill area of Paisley.

Sanctuary Scotland, which is behind the plan, say it will provide much-needed, affordable housing for dozens of families.

The £7.3 million development of 71 two-storey homes built to the north and south of Dundonald Road will be a mixture of two, three, four and five-bedroom properties.

The work will be part-fund...

THIS is the house of horrors were callous Kimberley Hainey left her tiny son Declan to die.

Legal chiefs yesterday released a series of shocking images which show the filthy Paisley flat where the tragic toddler spent his final days.

Hainey, 37, was convicted last month of murdering her son after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

She is due to be sentenced for that horrific crime today.

And, as Hainey faces up to a long spell behind bars, Paisley Daily Express readers are now able to see for ...

DELIGHTED tenants have started returning to high-rise flats that have had a £6million makeover.

Glencairn Court, in Gallowhill, Paisley, is being transformed as part of a major housing regeneration project for the area.

And a second block, Gallowhill Court, will also be given a facelift.

The third block, Arkleston Court, will be demolished once all tenants have been rehoused.

Tenants are getting new kitchens and bathrooms – including decoration, flooring and complete rewiring – and the block...

A NEIGHBOUR of killer mum Kimberley Hainey last night described her as “an evil bitch”.

Lisa Milton, 28, lived next door to Hainey in Bruce Road, Gallowhill, Paisley, from September 2008 until March last year, when she was arrested after the decomposed and mummified body of her son Declan was discovered lying in his cot.

Single-mum Lisa tried to befriend Hainey and claims she felt sorry for her as she struggled to raise Declan on her own.

But Hainey’s lies soon put paid to any hopes of a l...

A POLICE officer yesterday told a court of being hit by a “god awful smell” when he entered a house where a dead toddler lay in his cot.

PC Dillon Pooley, 33, was giving evidence at the trial of Kimberley Hainey, who is accused of murdering her baby son Declan.

He told the High Court in Glasgow that, together with a colleague, he was called to a house in Bruce Road, Gallowhill, Paisley, on March 30 last year after a dead child was found there.

The officer described the state of the toddler�...

CONCERNS have been raised for child safety after a bogus janitor attempted to work a shift at a primary school.

The man turned up at Paisley’s Gallowhill Primary, after the council began using an agency to supply staff following budget cuts.

The incident, in March, emerged as a bitter dispute deepened between Renfrewshire Council and the union Unison over janitors’ working conditions.

Staff are currently being balloted for industrial action.

A spokesman for Renfrewshire Council said the bogus...

BRAVE firefighters saved a woman’s life after she was trapped in her smoke-filled Paisley flat.

They also evacuated neighbours in the block as their quick action prevented the smoke and flames spreading.

Police said the rescued woman, thought to be in her late 30s, was taken to Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital for treatment.

The fire drama happened in Dundonald Road, Gallowhill, around 11.15pm on Sunday.

Residents in the street said they only knew something was wrong when firefighters arriv...

ARMED cops raced to a Paisley housing scheme early yesterday after horrified residents reported the sound of shots being fired.

Police were alerted by members of the public who claimed they heard gunfire and spotted a man fleeing for his life as he was chased by a gang.

The frightening drama took place in Dundonald Road, Gallowhill, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Officers carrying automatic weapons were among the first at the scene and they took up positions at a block of flats where f...

A DISABLED couple who live on the fifth floor of a tower block last night begged council chiefs to move them out ... after claiming their home has become a firetrap.

Agnes Strathearn and her husband George both rely on wheelchairs to get about and insist they wouldn’t stand a chance of survival if a fire broke out at their home in Glencairn Court, Paisley.

They have lived in the Gallowhill high-rise for almost 40 years but are now so frail that they are desperate for a move as the building is...

A 36-year-old man was in Barshaw Park around midnight on Friday when he was hit by a bottle.

His attackers are described as white, wearing shorts and T-shirts and aged between 18 and 30.

Meanwhile, police are probing a second attack in the area.

A 40-year-old man was walking in Netherhill Road, Gallowhill, in the early hours of Saturday when he was attacked by two men.

The two suspects ran off up Netherhill Road towards Dundonald Road. They are described as white, between 18 and 22 years old, wit...

We have loads of things for young people to get involved in throughout the Summer. Read on to find out what is happening at Gallowhill Community Centre.

If you're a football fanatic you can grab a piece of the action with our mobile 5-a-side pitches. Not only that if you think you have the best moves, you can try out The Box where we will have dance mats available. If this isn't enough we also have the Youth Bus available where you can play the wii, PS2 , XBox, surf the net or challenge your m...

FOOTBALL-CRAZY kids were over the moon when St Mirren star Marc McAusland turned up to hand out the honours at their awards ceremony.

Marc was the special guest at the end-of-season bash attended by pupils from Gallowhill Primary and St Catherine’s Primary.

The two schools, which are both in Paisley, amalgamated their football teams to help save money and the merged side has just completed its first season in Section F of the Paisley and District Schools Football League.

And Marc was delighted...

MUM Jennifer White is dreading another summer during which her four-year-old daughter can’t play in the back garden.

The grassy area to the rear of their home in Paisley is out of bounds because of a problematic drain which overflows with smelly sewage.

Human waste pours out of a hole in the ground every time someone in the property flushes a toilet.

The mum-of-one is at the end of her tether and wants the problem sorted now before the hot weather worsens the stink.

Jennifer said she has lost c...

FAMILIES are living in fear after firebugs started a blaze on the 12th floor of a Paisley tower block.

Firefighters had to wear breathing masks because of the stench from dangerous choking smoke.

Anxious residents were told to stay in their flats and make sure all safety doors on the floor were closed.

The drama was sparked after a fire was started in a cupboard on the 12th floor of Arkleston Court, in the Gallowhill area.

Shortly before 7pm on Tuesday, there was a flood of phone calls from resid...

Strathclyde Police are investigating reports that a 15-year-old schoolgirl was raped in the Gallowhill area of Paisley last week.

The attack is alleged to have happened at about 1600 BST on 27 May in a wooded area near to Montgomery Road and Montgomery Avenue.

Officers are believed to be following a positive line of inquiry.

In April, a 12-year-old boy was arrested over the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in the same area.

A 15-year-old girl was raped at the same spot where a 12-year-old was also raped just five weeks ago.

News of the second daylight attack has shocked people living in Gallowhill, Paisley.

Police have confirmed they are investigating a “serious sexual assault” that took place in woodland at 4pm last Friday.

It is understood they are following a definite line of inquiry.

Officers and forensics experts have searched and photographed the area behind a care home in Montgomery Drive.

Local people spo...

CARING kids and coaches from a youth football club teamed up with a group of Rotarians to kick litter into touch.

Around 20 lads and two coaches from Renfrew Victoria Boys Club were joined by members of The Rotary Club of Renfrew, as well as Renfrew South and Gallowhill councillor Cathy McEwan, as they rolled up their sleeves to stage a clean-up of land near high-rise flats in Paisley.

The litter pick-up was organised by Rotarian Peter O’Keefe – who owns two McDonald’s franchises at Braeh...

TEARS and tributes flowed at a Paisley church yesterday as hundreds of mourners said their final farewell to tragic teenager Steven Smith.

The young football fan's life was cut short in the early hours of Boxing Day last year when he died following an altercation with security staff as he tried to enter Fury's nightclub in Paisley town centre.

For five long months, his loved ones were unable to lay him to rest as a police investigation into the incident took place.

However, the family of 18-year...

TENANTS in two blocks of Paisley flats are to be asked if they want their balconies enclosed as part of a £2million refurbishment.

Families living in Gallowhill Court and Glencairn Court will have the balconies sealed off with glass if Renfrewshire Council approve proposals for overcladding.

The flats will also receive new kitchens and bathrooms – and will be rewired.

In addition, Glencairn Court will have its own area in which tenants can meet and mix.

The improvements scheme is extra work wh...

A PENSIONER has died after she was seriously injured in a horror accident in the car park at a popular garden centre.

Margaret Byres, 80, was rushed to hospital after she crashed her car into a tree outside the Dobbies Garden Centre, in Hawkhead Road, Paisley.

She suffered a serious leg injury and underwent surgery at the town’s Royal Alexandra Hospital but her condition deteriorated and she lost her fight for life.

In a double tragedy, police confirmed last night that a Paisley man who was se...

FIVE bouncers – one of them a woman – have been questioned in connection with the alleged murder of a tragic Paisley teenager.

Steven Smith, 18, died in the early hours of Boxing Day last year following an altercation with security staff as he tried to enter Fury Murrys nightclub in Shuttle Street, Paisley.

Cops immediately said they were treating the death as “suspicious” and appealed for information on where Steven had been before arriving at the club.

Detectives and medical experts ha...

A YOB who caused mayhem in a hospital ward and hurled abuse at nurses trying to treat him has been spared jail.

Mark Revie dodged a prison term after a sheriff heard the former junkie had been on his best behaviour since he was arrested for threatening medical staff at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital.

The 33-year-old had gone on trial at Paisley Sheriff Court last year after he was charged with abusing nurses who were trying to treat him for a head injury sustained in a serious a...

BOXING Buddie Gary Adam is taking on his most deadly opponent ever in his latest fight . . .by squaring up to ruthless Taliban warriors.

The 23-year-old soldier is in the Afghan warzone on his second tour of the crisis-hit country.

The Gallowhill lad is a corporal with the Argyll and Sutherland highlanders but for the last few years he has been winning praise for his punches rather than his soldiering skills.

Ranked as one of the Army’s up-and-coming boxing talents, the lightweight scr...

POLICE were yesterday investigating five vicious attacks which took place in the Paisley area within hours of the New Year Bells ringing in the start of 2011.

It is thought that all of the incidents, which are being treated as serious assaults, were drink-related.

Four attacks took place in Paisley and the other happened in Renfrew. Police are not linking any of them.

The first assault took place at around 3am on Saturday, January 1, when a 24-year-old man suffered injuries to his face fo...

A FORMER soldier who attacked his long-suffering wife with a chair after she forget to leave him a slice of PIZZA has been ordered to undergo anger management after admitting the offence in court.

Paisley Sheriff Court heard that Robert Jackson grabbed his wife Harriet by the throat but, as she put her hands up to defend herself, she accidentally hit his nose, causing it to bleed.

His terrified victim then fled to a bedroom but Jackson chased after her, picked up a chair and struck her...

A FATHER and son combo have set up Paisley’s first ‘Ghostbusters’ HQ.

Door steward Andrew Park, 30, and his dad David, 56, head up the Paisley Paranormal Investigation Team (PPIT) and have opened an office in Causeyside Street.

The full-time base will allow them to plan spooky stake-outs and investigate some of the country’s most haunted buildings – just like the heroes from the 1984 Ghostbusters film.

And David revealed Buddies are proving they ain’t afraid of no ghost.

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Steven Smith

TEARS flowed yesterday for gentle giant Steven Smith who died outside a town centre nightclub in the early hours of Boxing Day.

The 18-year-old whose pals described him as a “gem of a man” was discovered yards from Fury’s in Shuttle Street, Paisley, just before 1am shortly after a row with stewards.

His death is the second tragedy to hit the Smith family in four years – Steven’s older brother Darren, 20, died when he got caught up in a fight in a Gallowhill flat.

Y...