Former BBC Scotland journalist Derek Bateman dies aged 71

Derek Bateman retired from the BBC in 2013 after 25 years

Broadcaster Derek Bateman who reported and presented for BBC Scotland has died at the age of 71 after an illness.

He was born in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders and in 1968 became a teenage journalism trainee at The Scotsman.

Over the next 20 years he worked as a reporter there and at The Glasgow Herald.

Mr Bateman went on to become the political editor of the newly-launched Scotland on Sunday newspaper before joining the BBC in the late 1980s.

His 1986 investigations into Robert Maxwell and that year's Edinburgh Commonwealth Games led to him co-writing a behind the scenes book about what had gone wrong.

'No politician ever got the better of him'

During his 25 years at the BBC he became a distinguished and popular reporter, correspondent, and presenter.

For more than a decade he was one half of a double-act with John Milne, presenting Good Morning Scotland.

He also presented the weekend programme Newsweek Scotland; was a main anchor on Radio Scotland's election programmes, and towards the end of his time with the BBC worked as a reporter and presenter on political programmes and on Newsnight Scotland.

Mr Bateman retired from the BBC in 2013 but continued to blog and broadcast on Scottish politics.

Paying tribute, BBC Scotland's head of news, Gary Smith, said: "BBC viewers and listeners across Scotland will be saddened to hear about the death of Derek Bateman.

"His well-known voice kept our audiences informed - and Scotland's politicians on their toes - throughout his time on Good Morning Scotland, and on our television output too.

"In addition to his illustrious broadcasting career, Derek was previously a highly regarded print journalist.

"He will be missed by his former colleagues in the newsroom. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time."

Derek Bateman had four daughters and two granddaughters and was married to former BBC journalist Judith Mackay

Mr Bateman's long-term colleague, the former BBC Scotland correspondent Kenneth Macdonald, said: "He knew he was good but not in a bad way. It didn't come across as arrogance but as a calm confidence.

"And what an interviewer he was. I'm sure he did his homework but his political knowledge seemed as effortless as it was extensive. No politician ever got the better of him".

Mr Bateman was married to the former BBC journalist Judith Mackay and they had two daughters, Hannah, and Clara.

He also had two daughters, Eilidh and Lucy, from his first marriage to Alison, who died in 2001.