Reggae star faces trial over alleged racist attack

SCOTS reggae star Finley Quaye has pleaded not guilty to assaulting a woman in an allegedly racially aggravated attack in the capital.

Quaye denies striking Jobely Flores in Leith Walk in October 2011. He was not in court yesterday to hear his solicitor enter the not guilty plea on his behalf.

It is alleged that the attack took place on 8 October last year.

Quaye, who now lives in London, was born in Edinburgh in March 1974 and hit the headlines after winning a Mobo for best reggae act in 1997.

He also won a Brit Award for Best Male Solo Artist the following year after securing two top 20 hits from his debut album Maverick A Strike. Quaye has worked with other top musicians such as Iggy Pop, Primal Scream and West Indian musical legend Lee Scratch Perry.

After hearing the plea, Sheriff Roderick MacLeod fixed trial for the case on 24 August 2012.

The vocalist was also ordered to appear at a preparatory hearing in Edinburgh Sheriff Court on the matter in July 2012.