Tributes to crash victims

Feb 6 2009 by Andrew Welsh and Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

THE funerals of the three victims of a horrific car crash near Edinburgh will take place on successive days next week, it was announced yesterday.

A minute’s silence will also be observed at all East Region Junior matches tomorrow as a mark of respect for two local men, both footballers, who died.

Alan Brown (25), of Coupar Angus Road, Blairgowrie, was a defender with Bankfoot. Their cup match against North Region side Fortmartine has also been called off.

His funeral will take place in Scone Old Parish Church at 12.30pm on Tuesday, with interment at Scone New Cemetery. The previous day, 25-year-old David Menzies, of Fingask Court, Perth, will be laid to rest in the same cemetery. His funeral will also be held in Scone New at noon.

David, who worked with Perth and Kinross Council, was a defender with Scone Amateurs until they went into abeyance at the end of last season.

The funeral of the third victim, former Perth Academy pupil Gregor Crocker (25), whose parents live in Stanley, will take place in Linlithgow on Wednesday.

Gregor was described yesterday as “an instantly likeable young man.”

Yesterday, relatives were still coming to terms with their loss following the crash which took place on the B9080 in Threemiletown, near Winchburgh, in the early hours of Sunday.

Mr Crocker’s parents, Mick and Cathy, from Stanley, and his sister Hazel Motley, paid a warm tribute to the young man.

“Gregor was born in 1983 and spent his very young years in Harburn, West Lothian, before the family moved north to the Perth area over 14 years ago,” they told the PA.

“Gregor attended Arngask Primary School in Glenfarg and then Perth Academy. An instantly likeable young man, he easily formed enduring friendships.”

The family said that after he left school, Gregor joined the family diamond drilling business, Corecut, based near Broxburn, West Lothian.

While there, Mr Crocker worked his way up from trainee plant fitter to plant manager.

“Both socially, and in his work life, Gregor was an extremely popular, outgoing and hard working young man,” said his parents.

“He was always good company and was loved by everyone he spent time with.”

One of Mr Crocker’s great passions was fishing.

“He spent a lot of his time on the River Tay with his father and brothers, and on the north-west coast sea fishing, where he’d often organise trips for him and friends to stay in the family’s cottage,” they said.

His funeral service will be held at St Michael’s Church, in Linlithgow, on Wednesday at 11.30am.

Friends are invited to attend and the cars will be leaving from Stanley at around 10am.

Mr Crocker is survived by his parents, his two sisters Hazel and Karen and two brothers – Finlay, with whom he worked in the family business, and Ewan.

AMAZINGLY, two people managed to survive when the white Toyota 4x4 left the road and ploughed into a stone-built cottage at the side of the B9080 around 2.15am on the Sunday morning.

They were 27-year-old Kinnoull defender Neil Gardiner and 25-year-old Bryan Scott, formerly with Scone Thistle but now playing for Arbroath.

Yesterday, Kinnoull president Chris Jones said: “We wish to convey our sympathies to all the families of the crash victims from everyone at the club.

“While the Junior football scene is a very competitive one, when tragedy strikes, as has happened here, it shows how close-knit and supportive the clubs and players are.”

Bankfoot’s third round GA Engineering Cup match against North Region side Fortmartine United has been postponed.

Club secretary Ian Wood said that everyone had been left “absolutely devastated” by Alan Brown’s death.