Boy, 7, punched in Scottish attacks on fans
A boy aged seven and a 41-year-old disabled man were attacked in separate racist assaults in Scotland for wearing England shirts.
Hugo Clapshaw, a primary school pupil whose father is a New Zealander and whose mother is Scottish, was punched on the head while playing in an Edinburgh park with his parents.
In a second incident, a man was dragged from his parked car outside a school in Aberdeen and badly beaten. [..]
Hugo was on his scooter on a day out with his mother Kirsty, 35, father Damon, 34, and his sisters, Lily, four, and Skye, seven months, when he was assaulted.
His attacker, thought to be in his 20s, hit the child and called him a "f***ing English w*****" as he ran past the family.
Mr Clapshaw, a finance worker, was punched and knocked to the ground after chasing the man and confronting him on Saturday afternoon.
He said: "Hugo was in pieces. My wife consoled him and I ran after the guy. He became very aggressive. He had a Rangers top on and said, 'This is Scotland'. He was all hatred. He was wild-faced, full of rage, eyes bulging.
"I decided to walk away from it and go back to my family, but as my back was turned he ran up and punched me. I fell and he kicked me. Hugo is okay now, it's a life lesson about one bad apple. He still wants to wear his England top to support a British team. He's a kilted Kiwi.
"He might decide next week to support Argentina, it's not about race, he's just a kid. But he's not going to let this mindless thug put him off supporting England." [..]
In Aberdeen, Ian Smith, a former postman who was wearing an England top and had a St George's Cross on his car, was listening to the Germany-Ecuador game on Sunday when he was dragged out of the parked vehicle. He suffered a severely bruised eye and double vision.
He said: "I had the radio on loud and the next thing I know this guy started swearing at me, calling me an English bastard, then hauled me out my car and wrestled me to the ground. He just started giving me abuse about supporting England. He tried to kick me, and when I got myself back on my feet he punched me in the eye.
"I told him there was no need for all this bigotry because it's only football."
Mr Smith, originally from Peterborough, said it was the first time he had suffered racist violence in 12 years.
A spokesman for Mr McConnell said: "These people have probably very little or no interest in football. The First Minister has never encouraged anybody to be anti-English. He has repeated that this should be about enjoying the World Cup."
Mr McConnell was criticised before the tournament for saying he planned to support Trinidad and Tobago in their match against England describing the decision as "about football not politics". [..]
Kenny MacAskill, the justice spokesman for the Scottish National Party, said: "This is a football tournament, not a re-run of the Battle of Bannockburn or tribal warfare."
Hamish Husband, of the Association of Tartan Army Clubs that follow the Scotland football team, said the attacks were "criminal" and "nothing to do with the Tartan Army". [..]
