NEWS: Rod Rage

MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 16, 2010, Friday

IT'S the kind of behaviour you might expect from some laddish fans at an Oasis concert â€" boorish and intimidating.

But it was the last thing anyone expected from the droves of middle aged rock fans who flocked to see Rod Stewart at Edinburgh Castle over the past two nights.

Yet for Mercy Breheny, 36, Wednesday night turned nasty when she refused to let some of the old rocker's fans shelter from the rain in her stairwell.

Ms Breheny, 36, called the police after one concert-goer broke into her close and shouted a barrage of abuse outside her door after she shut them out in the rain.

The trouble started after she cycled to her flat in Johnston Terrace shortly before Wednesday night's concert began to find middle aged fans sheltering in her stairwell doorway.

"I pulled up on my bike at around 8 o'clock and they were standing there drinking beer and smoking.

"I asked them to excuse me and let me into my stair, and when I turned around to close the door behind me they blocked the entrance," she said.

"I asked them to excuse me again about five times and they ignored me, so I pushed the door shut at their backs.

"On the way up the stair I could hear shouting and swearing. Then I heard the door being forced by a shoulder, then heard someone racing up the stairs to catch up with me.

"He was shouting and screaming. It was along the lines of, 'Don't f******* shut the door on me, you f******** b****', He sounded really mad.

"I ran into the house and closed my door behind me. I heard other voices behind him and I was worried I had a gang after me.

"I like to think I know how to look after myself but I was really scared that he'd come up and force my door as well.

"I actually thought he would do it. He had riled himself up to an absolutely insane degree."

Ms Breheny changed out of her wet clothes and worked up the courage to go back into the stairwell to see if the way was clear to find a police officer.

She said: "I went back out into the street and explained what happened to a policeman who was directing fans up to the gig, but he looked like he couldn't care less.

"He said, 'Can't you see that we're a bit busy here?'

"Busy doing what? Shepherding other harmless fans up the street while I'm being threatened in my own house?"

A police spokeswoman today said they had investigated the incident in the close, but by the time they arrived the people responsible had already headed to the concert.