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A MAN HAS been charged in connection with an attack on Celtic football manager Neil Lennon – after the manager was attacked in the middle of a match last night.
26-year-old John Wilson, with an address in Edinburgh, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court this afternoon charged with assault aggravated by religious prejudice, as well as a breach of the peace aggravated by religious prejudice.
Wilson made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody, STV reports.
The court appearance followed a an attack on Lennon shortly after his side went 2-0 up early in the second half of last night’s game away at Hearts, a game in which Celtic emerged 3-0 winners.
A man leapt over advertising hoardings at the Tynecastle stadium and rushed at Lennon, making physical contact with the Celtic boss before being wrestled to the ground and arrested.
The Celtic manager appeared shaken by the attack but was not injured; the game continued as normal afterward, but Lennon skipped his post-match press duties, instead sending his deputy Johan Mjällby to speak to the media.
“It was shocking and I have never seen anything like it at this level. This is a dark day for Scottish football. You never know what the guy could have had in his hand,” Mjällby told the Guardian.
The BBC quotes a statement from Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan, who said the behaviour was “wholly unacceptable” and that the safety of players and officials was a paramount concern.
The attack was condemned by Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond, who said a new group would meet to present plans to tackle “violent and bigotry” in football before the beginning of the next season. Hearts have also pledged to cooperate with police inquiries.
Two people have also been arrested, PA reports, in connection with the parcel bombs sent to Lennon and other high-profile supporters of the club including Lennon’s lawyer and a Scottish politician.
Earlier this year, police intercepted a package containing bullets which had been addressed to Lennon. The Celtic manager has been forced to leave his home, and his family now live at an undisclosed location with round-the-clock police surveillance amid ongoing fears for their safety.
Lennon, a former Northern Ireland international, was forced to quit international football in 2002 after his appointment as team captain, following death threats from loyalists angered at a Catholic’s appointment to the role.
Last night’s win for Celtic – which has naturally been overshadowed by the events surrounding Lennon – has forced the race for the Scottish Premier League into the season’s final weekend, with Celtic’s cross-city rivals Rangers a point ahead going into the final games on Sunday.
I’ll just have to check their website or social media while driving now for updates….
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: Could this possibly be connected? https://www.broadsheet.ie/2019/02/07/jam-today-rte-and-aa-roadwatch/
@Here’s How Podcast: Full story on the podcast here: https://blog.hereshow.ie/2019/02/heres-how-82-rte-and-the-aa/
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: You might have to pay for this service now|
Elaine o Sullivan AA road watch ! I’m gonna miss her voice
@Marko: and Ester Moore ODonoghue
@Marko: Arwen Foley was the one for me.
@Alan McArdle: Lorraine Keane anyone?
@Bill Spill: I certainly would. Met her at electric office many years ago. What a lady
@Adrian O’Donnell: Electric Office? Were you having a picnic together?
@Marko: sometimes sounded like she said the A 3 times. Maybe she’d been out the night before.
No more rind-a-bits being busy so.
@theseadoc: nothing will stop the dunkettle interchange being blocked
@Stuart:
@Stuart:
@Stuart: ah the memories of random places we only know through this broadcast! They might not even exist half of them.
Typical big buyer slashing overheads, and never mind who it affects.
@John Nolan: Ridiculous comment. Are they not entitled to make business decisions in their own interests? Why don’t you set up a traffic notification service and provide it to radio stations if it means so much to you?
What ever became of electric Eddie, eye in the sky… Probably dead and buried somewhere on the Con Colbert road, the only location with traffic back in the day
@Shay Murray: it’s driver is stuck at the Red Cow Roundabout
Who’s going to provide traffic reports for the radio stations now ? It’s a major loss for serious road users. It was fantastic to hear the traffic reports on the hour after the news and if something was happening on the road your driving on, you were notified of it. Another backwards step. In the UK, you don’t even have to wait for the news, the traffic reports interrupt whatever station your listening to.
@Sean Walsh: that is because the traffic situation in the UK is an absolute ball breaker. Not even comparable to here. Or was a ball breaker, pre covid..
Laren behan … a beautiful voice !
How will I find my in into the meeja now, love island won’t take me, AA roadwatch gone, crimewatch auditions go nowhere, and I won’t stoop to fair city levels just yet!
At least that’s a few annoying voices off the airwaves.
Useless anyway. Radio reports are brutal. Dublin 103.2 for traffic reports in real time.
@Jimmy Reid: hasn’t been the same since John left though.
Was never helpful to me. Everytime it was the same report “traffic heavy on the dunnekettle” its always heavy.
@Michael: The AA are losing money – most if not all insurance companies or garages provide breakdown cover
Have they an app? They could seek to integrate their real time info with Google maps.
@HarveyLemonade: Where there’s a will, there’s a Waze.
@HarveyLemonade: you can see traffic build ups on Google maps and Apple maps if you Amber lines on maps that’s traffic build up and red lines is traffic at a stop. Also Apple maps is eventually bringing in incident reporting to Ireland like Waze where you can report traffic, accidents speed checks etc
Patnav on Nova will have to do.
A fantastic podcast on the whole situation.
https://blog.hereshow.ie/2019/02/heres-how-82-rte-and-the-aa/?ref=Broadsheet
Bring back The eye in the Sky ! Helicopter service.
They were always rubbish anyway. I well remember the bad old days when I lived in Kildare, and you’d regularly hit a monster traffic jam on the N7 that AA Roadwatch would conveniently have forgotten to mention.
Lorraine Keane, AA Roadwatch
Why? Nooooooooo!
No more helpful mentions of their names by RTÉ presenters in order to help them up on the “celebrity” bandwagon ” ah well Swings and rindeabouts I suppose.
No more traffic “Nooze” then?
Karen Chew all day long.
Anyone remember the ozzie girl,BUMPER TO BUMPER..
@Peter Bell: that does rind a bell Peter.
@Peter Bell: that does ring a bell Peter.
Can’t read websites while driving
Delighted.
The AA and RTÉ themselves are no longer of any relevance.
What motorist would wish to have constant blabbering on a radio, same format from the same sounding stations who constantly have to announce their frequency or name to stay relevant.
Get an iPod or a subscription to Spotify or similar.
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