British lawman Paul McBride laughed off warnings not to travel to Pakistan telling a friend, “I’m safer there than in Glasgow,” according to a report in The Scottish Sun. Targeted in an alleged bomb plot — McBride was asked by a fellow brief not to make the trip from Dubai to Lahore but he just joked with him about the planned visit — four days before he was found dead in his hotel room, the paper said. Last night the top lawyer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said, “I had a really strong compulsion to phone Paul and tell him not to travel to Pakistan.” “I was concerned about security. I told him there was no need for him to go to Pakistan and that the risks were unacceptable.” “Paul had a wee joke about how he was probably safer over there than he was here.” The trial of two men accused of plotting to kill McBride, Celtic boss Neil Lennon and former MSP Trish Godman was adjourned on Tuesday as a “mark of respect”. The advocate had been due to give evidence at the trial of Neil McKenzie and Trevor Muirhead at the High Court in Glasgow, the paper said. Both men deny the charges. Judge Lord Turnbull said McBride was “a friend and colleague of all of us in this courtroom”. He told the jury, “You will be aware from the media of the sad and untimely death of McBride and you understand, of course, that McBride was due to give evidence in this case.”
“He was also a friend and colleague of all of us in this courtroom, and as a mark of respect I do not propose to sit today.” The trial will resume today (Wednesday). Fellow lawyer Aamer Anwar discovered McBride’s lifeless body after calling security when he could not raise him at his hotel in Lahore. The two men had been at a wedding on Saturday night, but McBride had left the bash early because he was feeling unwell.
