Freed bomber led to attack

A TOURIST told a court yesterday how he had a glass smashed over his head by a hotel owner in an argument about the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

Samuel Hogue described how a "pleasant" conversation over a few whiskies turned violent when the controversial topic was brought up.

He had been drinking with William Preston, 58, in the bar of Hotel Ceilidh-Donia on Marchhall Crescent in Edinburgh.

Mr Hogue told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that the pair had been getting on well until they started discussing the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi just days earlier.

When asked by defence agent Richard Goddard why he had been attacked by the hotelier, Mr Hogue said that it was unprovoked.

He said: "I honestly believe it was because I was an American and the Lockerbie bomber had just been released a couple of days earlier and there was a lot in the media about how America was boycotting Scotland."

Mr Hogue went on to tell the court that the only thing he said about the controversial topic was "that stinks".

He said: "I was just listening to him because he was leading the conversation anyway. I remember that to be the last words I said before that happened.

"Right after that he hit me. I really thought I was going to die that night."

The trial, before Sheriff Mhairi Stephen, continues.