Hibby arrested at Tynecastle for poster memorial

Bradley Welsh was passing out leaflets, below, in honour of his late father-in-law. Picture: Dan Phillips

Hibs fan Bradley Welsh was detained by officers outside Tynecastle on Saturday as he distributed cards and posters in honour of his late father-in-law Stuart “Tich” Grant.

Mr Grant – a close friend of Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh – passed away eight years ago and his family has honoured him in a similar way every year since.

Following his death in 2007 Mr Grant’s family then broke into the Hibs’ Easter Road stadium and scattered his ashes on the pitch’s centre circle.

Now Mr Welsh – who runs an Edinburgh boxing gym – has taken to social media to slam Police Scotland for arresting him and placing him in custody for 12 hours for “distributing flyers and stickers to mark the anniversary of my late father-in-law”.

The flyers and posters show “practical joker” Mr Grant posing outside a branch of the Clydesdale Bank while holding a fake gun.

Mr Welsh posted on Facebook: “At 12 noon yesterday outside Tynecastle Stadium I was arrested by Police Scotland, put in handcuffs and thus spent the next 12 hours in the ‘huge machine’ called The Criminal Justice System.

“My perceived crime – distributing flyers and stickers to mark the anniversary of my late father in law, my daughter’s Granddad Tich Grant.

“Yesterday the whole family set out to distribute the little flyers and stickers around Edinburgh – Tich was a huge Hibs Fan and we normally take his flag to the game. But since Hearts banned flags at Tynecastle we weren’t able to take it, so the family decided to flyer and sticker the game.

“Only an idiot could take offence at the information on the flyer and sticker, it is clearly an ‘in memory’ of someone.

Mr Welsh, from Edinburgh, went on to claim “there was no altercation of any sort between myself and any supporters of Hearts” during the incident despite reports of fighting between rival fans.

Since his arrest, Mr Welsh has been inundated with support from fans on both sides of the Edinburgh divide and has claimed he will fight the charges “with every tool in the box”.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “A 41-year-old man was charged with breach of the peace on Saturday, January 3, outside Tynecastle Stadium. He is due to appear in Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.”

Mr Grant’s two daughters and son climbed into Easter Road stadium and scattered their dad’s ashes following his death on January 5, 2007.

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