John Smeaton Packs A Punch In Glasgow

WHO is John Smeaton?

He used to work at the Dumbarton BP Garage. He was once an avid member of the under-15 team at Kelburne Cricket Club. He is now Senior Ramp Assistant at Glasgow Airport, as denoted by the red stripes on his vest.

His first thought when he saw a jeep alight and embedded in the front of Glasgow Airport was: “I’ve got to get this sorted.”

Smeaton was smoking a cigarette outside. The message that should be avoided, lest it give the wrong impression, is that heroes smoke cigarettes. If Smeaton could do it again, he would be sucking on a pear drop or biting his nails.

Smeaton sees a man emerge from the burning car. Says Smeaton to the Telegraph: “I thought, ‘You’re not hitting the police mate’. All that was going through my mind was I’ve got to help the policeman. It’s your civic duty.”

He acted. He very possibly kept his cigarette (pear drop) in his mouth while he brought down the would-be killers.

And in honour of his courage, the world now has the John Smeaton Appreciation Society. It features the tagline: “When terrorists attacked Glasgow Airport their nefarious plans were foiled by one man - BAA’s own Jack Bauer, John Smeaton. Sir you are a legend.” Bauer is the fictional counter-terrorist agent in the hit US TV series 24.

As Smeaton says: “We all ran towards him, we all tried to get a kick in and get a boot in at him, and just try to subdue the guy… I’m not letting these guys get away with this. It’s your work, it’s your duty to make sure stuff like this doesn’t happen.”

Smeaton is now the hero, the face of defiant Britain. While the voice belongs to John Clark’s who tells the New York Times:

“As one who was born in Paisley, and who grew up in Glasgow, I am not scared, nor will I let idiots run my life for me. I am angry more than anything. Other than Lockerbie, Scotland has been terror free ever since the Blitz.

“These idiots want to disrupt our lives. Although the bombs were incompetently built, the knock on effects cause disruption, so the idiots win.

“I also think that they wish to disrupt race relations in Scotland, which has a large Muslim population. Sorry, guys, it isn’t going to happen.

“I have friends who attend the Glasgow Central Mosque and the Forth Street Mosque in the South of Glasgow, and they are repulsed at these actions as all Scots are.

“Muslim, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jew, Hindu, Sikh … Black, Brown, Yellow, or White … We are ALL Scots, and we won’t stand for foreign idiots trying to disrupt our lives and play us off against each other.”

Quite so. The message is clear, and for once not aimed by the Scots at the English. We must stand tight together.

And if Smeaton and his comrades do chuck your bags around or send them to mystery destinations, know that they do so in the line of selfless duty.

God bless the baggage handlers. They pack a mean punch…

He’s met another hero…

Anorak

Posted: 3rd, July 2007 | In: Tabloids, War On Terror Comments (46) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink