He studied with a future PM why did this quiet, intelligent
Friends and family pay tribute to victim as
He was a university friend of Gordon Brown, spending time with the future Prime Minister during their days as students in Edinburgh.
Years later, Alasdair Forsyth returned to the city after travelling the world – only to be brutally murdered in his own home where he lived a quiet life alone with his books.
Alasdair, 67, described as a “lovable big guy” by his family, was attacked by three teenage killers who rained more than 100 blows on the pensioner using a wrench, screwdriver and his own walking stick. Kerin Mcmillan, 19, along with two youths who can’t be named because of their age, are due to be sentenced for murder at the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday. As his family struggle to come to terms with their loss, Alasdair’s younger brother Ewen spoke of a “highly intelligent” and gentle man who will be sorely missed.
He s a i d A l a s d a i r mov e d to Lanarkshire with his family from Skye, where his ashes are now scattered atop some of Scotland’s most spectacular mountains, before his academic brilliance led to him winning a place at a prestigous university in the late 1960s.
Ewen said: “Alasdair lived for his books and was dux of his school when we moved to Bothwell as children.
“He went off to university in Edinburgh to study sociology and politics and one of his fellow students was Gordon Brown. The photograph of them as a group was taken in the city around 1970 shortly before Gordon became rector of the university. Alasdair graduated and went to Iran to work in research.
“He left that to tour the world for three years and visited China, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan before returning to Scotland. Reading and books were always his thing – he had hundreds of them on subjects such as history and politics.”
Ewen added Alasdair had been left grief- stricken as a 20- year- old student, when he lost twin sister, Margot, to illness, but managed to graduate nonetheless.
He added: “Alasdair was such a character and his loss has hit us dreadfully.”
Alasdair stayed latterly in Edinburgh, leading a quiet life in his top floor flat in the city’s Prestonfield area where residents told of a man who would sometimes sit out the back garden but otherwise kept himself to himself.
One neighbour, Ian Abernethy, 63, said: “Alasdair was a character and would sit in the back garden in the summer with a can of beer.
“I didn’t ever see any badness in him. He was butchered in his own home and that’s utterly horrendous.”
The motive for A l a s d a i r ’s murder remains unclear although it’s understood the teenage killers have connections in the area and were known to Alasdair.
It’s understood they were under the mistaken impression he kept sums of money among his books and may have gone to his flat to rob him. Neighbours called police to
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Alasdair was such a character. His loss has hit us dreadfully