More than 100 suspected dealers have been arrested in one of Scotland’s biggest drugs operations, prompted by growing public unrest over the scourge of drugs. A series of dawn raids carried out across some of the west of Scotland’s most deprived areas saw more than 500 police officers target 80 houses.

Alzheimer Scotland has condemned the final guidance produced by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), which says that drugs to help treat Alzheimer’s will not be available on the NHS for people in the early or late stages of the condition. The guidance states that the dementia drugs Aricept (donepezil), Reminyl (galantamine) and Exelon (rivastigmine) should only be used to treat those with moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

Four former residents of a children’s home who claim they were abused by staff are to get their day in court, a judge ruled yesterday. They have been given leave to sue Quarriers Homes in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, even though they raised the actions outwith the statutory period of limitation.

An immigration judge has called for an urgent review of the procedures for detaining illegal immigrants after expressing his “revulsion” at the manner in which a Chilean refugee facing deportation was treated by the Home Office.

A prison siege in which a warder was taken hostage was broken only after staff opened the jail’s drugs dispensary to inmates, a court heard yesterday. Hooded prisoners took the warder hostage at Edinburgh’s Saughton jail after an inmate’s wife was banned from visiting.

Politicians called for tighter controls on paedophiles last night after it emerged that Scotland’s most serious sex offenders are evading police because there are not enough officers to keep track of them.

A senior Scout leader set up a fake camp so he could lure young boys to his home and ply them with drink before sexually abusing them. Assistant commissioner Alan Grant, 42, printed fake consent forms and conned trusting parents into letting him take their children to “camp”.

More than 60 elderly people have suffered abuse in Scotland’s care homes during the past two years, a watchdog has revealed. The latest figures show that the number of abuse complaints upheld by the Care Commission has risen by a third year on year.

Police investigations are being hampered by outdated forensic science facilities, leaving detectives facing long delays to obtain crucial evidence. The Scotsman has learned that a chronic shortage of modern laboratories and cutting-edge equipment means Scotland’s police are having to wait weeks before DNA can be extracted from weapons, blood stains and other evidence.

More specialist treatment services are needed to tackle Scotland’s growing cocaine problem, according to experts. A conference in Glasgow will hear that although more users are turning to drug projects for help, most services are geared towards heroin addicts.