A hero Paisley bouncer who faced jail after tackling a dangerous gunman has had thousands of pounds sent to him by well-wishers.
Ben Bibby had a loaded pistol pointed right at him outside a pub- but ended up being charged with assaulting the crazed gunman Francis Smith.
During a two year ordeal trying to clear his name, Ben spent £4,900 on lawyers before the case against him collapsed.
But last night £3,340 had been lodged into a gofundme appeal to pay his legal bill.
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West of Scotland Tory MSP Russell Findlay said: “With some bam waving a gun in his face, what was he supposed to do? Buy him a pint? Give him a hug?
“I can’t comprehend why police and prosecutors would waste money and valuable court time going after someone in such circumstances and would be interested to hear their explanation.
“What’s criminal is that Ben has now been left with such a big legal bill for defending himself.”
Dozens of supporters have rallied round to bail Ben out, including the boss of the pub, Steven McColm who put in
£500.
(Image: Facebook)
Ben’s friend Tim Wylie said: “Ben was charged with assaulting the guy who pointed the gun in his face, and now, two years later, and following multiple court visits, all the charges have been dropped.
“However, Ben has had to fork out £4,900 in legal fees to defend himself. I have set up this page so we can donate towards recouping some of these costs.”
A loaded gun was pointed at Ben while he was on duty on the door of Nico’s in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street.
It happened just before Christmas 2019 when disgruntled customer Smith, 34, vowed to shoot him.
But Ben and two colleagues managed to tackle him to the ground and seize the gun, restraining him till police
arrived.
Smith got five years in Jail last March, but the assault case against Ben continued until it was thrown out at Glasgow Sheriff Court last month.
Sauchiehall Street had been very busy with Christmas revellers at the time.
Backer Valerie Rettie donated £20 to the appeal, saying: “This guy put his life ahead of others, his employers should be paying these costs.
“His action stopped their business getting shut down.”
Johnathan Quinn donated and said simply: “Ben is a legend.”
Marie-Sophie Maedler added: “I happily support heroes like you.”
Family friend Lynne Mailer added: “I can’t get my head around how the ‘justice’ system works, total joke!
“This kind of thing boils my blood.
“Bet the idiot with the gun who is in jail got his fees paid.
“Total joke but not a funny one.”
You can help get Ben over the line via https://www.gofundme.com/f/bens-legal-costs
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