A look back at events of 2004

June

• June proved to be a month of discovery when an Orkney diving company located a historic First World War wreck in the Minch, about 35 miles from Cape Wrath.
  
  HMS Caribbean was found upright and relatively intact when discovered by divers from Scapa Flow Charters' boat Jean Elaine. Skippered by Andy Cuthbertson, the party of ten went specifically to the location to look for the Caribbean. The divers spent two days exploring for the ship that sank in heavy seas on September 27, 1915.
• Steps to ban smoking in public places gathered momentum in Orkney when councillors gave their backing to a government consultation.
• A dramatic cup final was one of June's most notable sporting moments when a late fightback by Hotspurs clinched the Heddle cup.
  
  Hotspurs did it the hard way though, trailing Rovers by two goals in the last ten minutes, two late goals levelled the score taking it into extra time. Douglas Omand stabbed home the dramatic winner, giving Hotspurs the victory that looked to have escaped.
• A Stromness mother claimed that her family was being forced out of Orkney, due to the constant bullying her 11-year-old son had received. Kris Westerman, who moved to the county in September, 2003, claimed that Stromness Primary and Orkney Islands Council education department had let her family down by failing to deal with bullying at the school.
• Computer equipment in four Orkney homes was seized by police investigating child pornography. The equipment was taken as part of Operation Falcon.
  Stromness's new police sergeant started in June, replacing Sergeant David Matheson.
• Sgt Niall MacLean moved to the county from Inverness, after serving on the Isle of Skye.