News Review: The Hero They Tried to Turn Into a Villain

The ScotsmanApril 16, 2008

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Summary


THE trajectory of a "hero" is immutable: first they soar and then they fall. The strange case of John Smeaton, baggage handler, fly- fisherman and arch-foe of al-Qaeda is the most recent example. Except, of course, with a man so hard he makes medicine sick, the trajectory is soar, dip, then soar on. No wonder, so it is said, Superman wears John Smeaton pyjamas.

The man who warned terrorists, "Don't come to Glasgow... cos we'll set aboot ye!" this week endured his own mob-beating at the hands of the press, when a number of fellow heroes of the attempted bombing of Glasgow Airport last June cast doubt on his own brand of heroism.

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News Review: The Hero They Tried to Turn Into a Villain

Alex McIlveen, who tore a tendon while kicking Kafeel Ahmed, one of the alleged would-be bombers between the legs, described Smeaton in a Sunday tabloid as "a fake who should have been exposed a long time ago". Stephen Clarkson, who wrestled Ahmed to the ground, said: "Those who were there and saw what happened have been talking about ...

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