Queen Honours Worker Who "Just Booted" Suicide Bomber
Written by Joanne Leyland
Tuesday, 04 March 2008
In a week when, prompting a humble response from
Prince Harry, the word '‘hero' was
bandied about inside newsrooms across the globe, the Queen has today honoured some
of Britain’s bravest people at an investiture at Buckingham Palace.
Amongst those honoured is the Scottish airport worker who became an overnight
hero after he tackled an attempted suicide bomber who, one of a group of Muslim
extremists who thankfully failed in their attempt to kill hundreds if not
thousands of travellers at Glasgow Airport.
Recalling his meeting with the Queen, prior to which he enjoyed a quick
cigarette to calm his nerves, John Smeaton revealed: "We just had a wee chat.
She said, ‘well done and congratulations’."
Offering up his
typically humble and understated view of his heroics of last summer, Mr Smeaton
said of the moment he floored a terrorist: "I just booted a guy".
However, baggage handler John Heaton - who has since been promoted
- was not the only unsung hero of that Saturday afternoon on which
terrorists drove a jeep packed with explosives into the terminal at
Glasgow Airport.
In the process suffering some injury to themselves, Michael
Kerr, Stephen Clarkson and Alex McIlveen also put their own lives on
the line by tackling the terrorists, thereby helping to avert
devastation and save lives.
A website has now been set up in the hope of highlighting their
heroics as their actions have so far gone unrecognised by Prime
Minister Gordon Brown and those in Whitehall whose job it is to recommend names for the twice-yearly Honours List.
