John Smeaton (baggage Handler)
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John Smeaton
QGM QGM may refer to: * Queen's Gallantry Medal, an award described at King's Gallantry Medal * Quick Gun Murugun, a 2009 Indian cowboy movie spoof * Centre for Quantum Geometry of Moduli Spaces at Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated ...
(born 1976), also known by the nickname Smeato, is a former
baggage handler In the airline industry, a baggage handler is a person who loads and unloads baggage (suitcases or luggage), and other cargo (airfreight, mail, counter-to-counter packages) for transport via aircraft. With most airlines, the formal job title is ...
at
Glasgow Airport Glasgow Airport, also known as Glasgow International Airport () and formerly Abbotsinch Airport, is an international airport located in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, west of Glasgow city centre. In 2019 it handled 8.84 million passe ...
. He became involved in thwarting the
2007 Glasgow Airport attack The Glasgow Airport attack was a terrorist ramming attack which occurred on 30 June 2007, at 15:11 BST, when a dark green Jeep Cherokee loaded with propane canisters was driven at the glass doors of the Glasgow Airport terminal and set ablaze ...
. Smeaton lives in
Erskine Erskine may refer to: Places * Erskine, Renfrewshire Erskine (, , ) is a town in the council areas of Scotland, council area of Renfrewshire, and Renfrewshire (historic), historic county of counties of Scotland, the same name, situated in th ...
, Renfrewshire, a town outside the city and near the airport. Brought up in Erskine, he was educated at Park Mains High School. Smeaton stood as an
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate in the
2009 Glasgow North East by-election The 2009 Glasgow North East by-election was a by-election for the Parliament of the United Kingdom's House of Commons constituency of Glasgow North East. The by-election was held on 12 November 2009 following the resignation of Michael Martin ...
.


Glasgow Airport attack

Smeaton, a baggage handler, was off duty when he saw the incident start to develop on 30 June 2007. During his break he observed two men driving a burning Jeep filled with highly flammable gas cylinders into the airport entrance. He heard three explosions and ran over to help. It was reported that Smeaton shouted "fuckin' mon, then" and kicked
Kafeel Ahmed Kafeel Ahmed (1 January 1979 – 2 August 2007) was an Indian terrorist who was one of the two terrorists behind the 2007 UK terrorist incidents. He died of injuries sustained in the second of these incidents, a vehicle-ramming attack at Glas ...
in the groin. Ahmed suffered burns over 90% of his body and died later in hospital. During the incident Smeaton also helped drag Michael Kerr, who also intervened in the event, to safety. Kerr had been left lying with a broken leg beside the burning Jeep after also kicking Ahmed. The incident has been described as inspiring others to take personal initiative and act decisively in a crisis. Newsagent and former policeman Mohammed Afzah would later cite Smeaton as an inspiration for his facing down and repelling a would-be armed robber. In late July, Smeaton returned to his old job as a baggage handler at the airport. Later in the year he accepted a job as head of security at a nearby company. On 18 December 2007, it was announced that Smeaton was to be awarded the
Queen's Gallantry Medal The King's Gallantry Medal (KGM), formerly the Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM), is a United Kingdom decoration awarded for exemplary acts of courage, bravery where the services were not so outstanding as to merit the George Medal, but above the l ...
for his actions; this was presented by the Queen at a ceremony at
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
on 4 March 2008.


Television interviews

Following the attack, Smeaton gave television interviews to the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
,
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and
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which were broadcast worldwide. The television interviews that brought him to the attention of the world focused on his own reaction to the attack. * After he saw the police grappling with one of the attackers, he thought: :"You're no' hitting the Polis mate, there's nae chance." * Describing his own actions: :"So I ran straight towards the guy, we're all trying to get a kick-in at him, take a boot to subdue the guy." * Asked by
ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British news television channel of ITV (TV network), ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. ITN, Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the netwo ...
what his message to terrorists was, he said: :"Glasgow doesn't accept this. This is Glasgow; we'll set about ye." * In his ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' interview, he said: :"If any more extremists are still wanting to rise up and start trouble, know this: We’ll rise right back up against you. New York, Madrid, London, Paisley … we’re all in this together and make no mistake, none of us will hold back from putting the boot in." * From an interview with ''
Scotland Today ''Scotland Today'' was a Scottish regional news programme covering Central Scotland, produced by STV Central (formerly Scottish Television). Despite its name suggesting a national remit, the programme was actually limited to stories around STV's C ...
'': :"If you see the law going down then you have to step up to the plate. I mean, at the end of the day, when the law falls, we fall."


Tribute website and media attention

A tribute website set up in Smeaton's honour received 500,000
hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...
in its first 48 hours. The website urges visitors to buy a pint of beer for him; over 1000 pints were donated within two days. The BBC reported on 18 July 2007 that John Smeaton has pledged half of the money donated for pints of beer to the veteran's charity Erskine, which cares for former servicemen and women at five homes throughout Scotland. The balance of the money was to be used to fund a night out for those who also assisted at the incident at Glasgow Airport. The website also called for Smeaton to make an appearance at the popular Scottish music festival,
T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...
. The website's creator said: He was due to take to the stage and perform a rendition of "
Take the Power Back A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each ...
" by
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...
. However, T in the Park organiser Geoff Ellis said: "Through his actions at the weekend, John Smeaton absolutely epitomizes the spirit of Scotland that we are always so proud of at T in the Park. However, due to heightened security and an incredibly tight performance schedule on the Main Stage at T in the Park this year, unfortunately we can't allow him to get up on stage". A
Bebo Bebo ( ) was an American social networking website that originally operated from 2005 until its bankruptcy in 2013. The site relaunched several times after its bankruptcy with a number of short-lived offerings, including instant messaging and ...
group was also set up in dedication to Smeaton, called the John Smeaton Fan Club. Over 550 Bebo members had joined the club within 48 hours, and this page also received exposure in the '' Daily Record''. A Facebook group called the John Smeaton Appreciation Society was also established with over 4,000 members; this refers to Smeaton as: "Glasgow's
Jack Bauer Jack Bauer is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Fox television series '' 24''. Throughout the majority of the series' running, Bauer serves as a key member of the fictional CTU and other institutions. Bauer's job usually involv ...
" Smeaton was also the subject of a front-page article in ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
''. In the weeks after the attack, Smeaton made a variety of public appearances and interviews including appearing on the pitch at
Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Scottish Premiership team Rangers, Ibrox is the third-largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated ca ...
in front of his boyhood heroes before a
Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
home game. and meeting Prime Minister
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
at
10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...
. He also appeared at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...
. In September 2007, he started writing a column for the Scottish edition of ''The Sun'' newspaper every Thursday, called 'The Column That Sets Aboot Ye'. He was invited to appear at the
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for the sixth anniversary of the
September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
.''Daily Record'', 4 September 2007
He also appeared on ''
Richard & Judy ''Richard & Judy'' (also known as ''Richard & Judy's New Position'') is a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 Augus ...
''. On 12 September 2007, he received an official audience with New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at New York City Hall. On 24 September 2007 he attended the
Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conferen ...
and his exploits were referred to by
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
in his speech. He received a standing ovation from the crowd. Smeaton revealed in an October 2007 interview with ''Loaded'' magazine journalist
Jeff Maysh Jeff Maysh (born 30 March 1982, Nassau, Bahamas) is a British-American writer, author and journalist based in Hollywood, California. Journalism Maysh started his career at the British men's magazine '' Loaded''. He moved to America in 2010 to ...
that he feared "a jihad or a fatwa being issued" against him, but added, "that would just be fate. I can't stop a bloke with an AK47. One thing is for certain, they'll have to kill me. They'll never take me alive." In the same month, Smeaton and other bystanders who intervened in the Glasgow Airport attack were recognised at the Pride of Britain Awards.


Awards

Smeaton was one of four members of the public who were presented with a ''Daily Mirror''
Pride of Britain The Pride of Britain Awards is an annual award ceremony which has taken place in the United Kingdom since May 1999 and first televised on ITV in April 2000. The awards honour British people who have acted bravely or extraordinarily in challeng ...
award in 2007. In December 2007, Smeaton was presented with a
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Everyday Superhero Award in New York, and awarded the
Queen's Gallantry Medal The King's Gallantry Medal (KGM), formerly the Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM), is a United Kingdom decoration awarded for exemplary acts of courage, bravery where the services were not so outstanding as to merit the George Medal, but above the l ...
. In the same month Smeaton was named as one of the ten "Top Scots 2007" by ''Scotland on Sunday''.


Doubts

In March 2008, reports began to circulate in the national press that Smeaton's involvement in the incident had been exaggerated, and that others, who had done more to restrain the attackers, had not been recognised with awards such as the Queen's Gallantry Medal. Alex McIlveen, who tore a tendon in his foot while tackling burning Kafeel Ahmed, told reporters: "John Smeaton is not telling the whole truth. When it came to tackling the bombers, he didn't land a blow." Smeaton denied claims that he was a fake; and pointed out that he had already stated in 2007 that he felt the press were not giving enough credit to the others involved.


2009 Glasgow North East by-election

On 25 September 2009, it was announced that Smeaton would stand as an
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate in the
2009 Glasgow North East by-election The 2009 Glasgow North East by-election was a by-election for the Parliament of the United Kingdom's House of Commons constituency of Glasgow North East. The by-election was held on 12 November 2009 following the resignation of Michael Martin ...
called as a result of the resignation of the former Speaker of the House Michael Martin in the aftermath of the MP's expenses scandal. Smeaton was the first
Jury Team The Jury Team was a British political campaign established in 2009 to back independent candidates in United Kingdom domestic and European elections. Although it was a registered UK political party, it was described as an umbrella organisation gi ...
-supported independent to be selected for a
Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
election, following the umbrella organisation's launch in March 2009, and their backing of 59 candidates in the 4 June
2009 European elections 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...
. Labour won the seat with 12,231 votes while Smeaton polled 258 votes; eighth amongst 13 candidates. Smeaton's by-election campaign was the subject of a
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
documentary titled ''Make Me an MP'', aired on 18 November 2009.


References


External links


A short documentary trying to find John Smeaton

Smeaton interview with Loaded Magazine, by Jeff Maysh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smeaton, John 1976 births June 2007 UK terrorist incidents Independent politicians in Scotland Living people People educated at Park Mains High School People from Erskine Recipients of the Queen's Gallantry Medal Scottish columnists