Scottish diplomat loses eye after attack

A SCOTTISH diplomat has been left blind in one eye and with serious facial injuries following a savage attack in a London cemetery.

George Fergusson, 56, originally from Ayrshire, who has recently been appointed governor of Bermuda, was taking a short cut when he was assaulted on his way to a dinner party.

The father of three was forced to the ground, savagely beaten and robbed of a small amount of cash on Friday evening. He had surgery on his left eye on Saturday, but doctors were unable to save his sight.

Mr Fergusson was due to take up his new post on the tiny British overseas territory next month.

Mr Fergusson’s wife, Margaret, who works for the British Council, said: “He was going through the cemetery when he pulled out his Blackberry to check the address. The attacker thumped him straight in the eye.”

Yesterday the family were coming to terms with the latest in a series of tragedies that has plagued their lives. In 2005, their only son Alexander died after being hit by a taxi.

Mr Fergusson’s mother Laura, who was a sister-in-law of the actress Joyce Grenfell, was killed in 1979 when gale force winds blew a tree into the path of the car she and her husband were travelling in.

In 2006 a burglar stole an family heirloom tiara.