Constable's wane

Alumnus to be proud of No 170 spent this week displaying qualities of adhesiveness previously only associated with Yorkshire cricketers at their most stubborn. Ian Oliver, chief constable of Grampian Police, had earlier come to notice for a different kind of adhesion, to a young married woman with whom he was photographed in an Aberdeen park. Dr Oliver showed no sign of taking up Scottish secretary Donald Dewar's invitation to "pack his bags and go" after a damning report on a botched Grampian murder inquiry.

With degrees in law and philosophy from Nottingham University and a PhD from Strathclyde, he may need all his grasp of both subjects to hang on to his job.