´Ginger insult´ sparked Lennon attack, court told

Former Celtic captain Neil Lennon suffered a violent assault after an argument with two men which saw them mock him for having ginger hair, a court was told here Wednesday.

The 37-year-old Northern Irishman, now a coach with the Glasgow giants, was punched to the ground and then kicked repeatedly as he lay unconscious, a witness told the High Court in Glasgow.

David Whitelaw, 47, and Jeffrey Carrigan, 43, deny carrying out the assault in the early hours of September 1.

Liam Cameron, 24, a bar worker, said the men apparently mocked Lennon about his side’s defeat that day to Old Firm rivals Rangers and insulted his ginger hair colour.

He told the court he believed the men had first spoken to Lennon about the football result.

“Neil Lennon’s reaction was the finger,” Cameron said. “The men also called Mr Lennon a ginger c***,” he added.

“Mr Lennon then said ‘What did you call me?’.”

Cameron, who was smoking a cigarette outside after finishing work in nearby bar Jinty McGinty’s, heard raised voices and went to see what was happening. He found Mr Lennon “face-to-face” with one of the men.

The men involved in the attack were referred to as number one and number two in court.

Cameron said: “As I walked round, I saw an argument between number one and Mr Lennon, and number two punched Mr Lennon on the side of the head.

“Neil Lennon went down backwards, his shoe came off. He hit his head on the cobbles when he went down.”

This left him “completely, completely unconscious”, Cameron said.

He added: “He was kicked in the head a few times, I am not sure exactly how many times, more than three.”

Cameron said the attack only came to an end when he intervened, pushing one of the men away from Lennon as he lay unconscious in the street.

Prosecutor Mark Allan asked Cameron if he witnessed Lennon being physically aggressive during the incident.

“Nothing physical but his mannerisms kind of suggested that he was not happy with what had been said,” Cameron replied.

David Phinn, representing Whitelaw, asked: “Would you agree that Mr Lennon obviously wanted to confront these men about what had been said?”

He replied: “I would say that he was upset about what he had been called and he walked in their direction.”

The case continues.