Mindless yob trashed memorial to tragic Shaun Woodburn

A MINDLESS yob has been caught on CCTV trashing a tribute to tragic Shaun Woodburn just hours after it was unveiled.
A memorial for Shaun Woodburn outside the old cinema in Great Junction St. Picture: Al Linford.A memorial for Shaun Woodburn outside the old cinema in Great Junction St. Picture: Al Linford.
A memorial for Shaun Woodburn outside the old cinema in Great Junction St. Picture: Al Linford.

Family and friends gathered in Leith on New Year’s Day to lay flowers and a banner 12 months on from the young dad’s senseless killing.

But in the early hours of yesterday morning the drunken vandal wrecked the heartfelt messages - prompting fury from Shaun’s friends.

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“He’s just scum,” said owner of nearby Gladstones Bar Peter Swanson, a close friend of Shaun’s dad, Kevin Woodburn. “He’s put the boot into Kevin and his family.”

Peter said footage captured on security cameras at Gladstones, where Shaun had been partying the night he was killed, clearly shows the culprit.

The man is seeing staggering towards the tribute at 1.24am before launching his vile attack.

“He ripped the banner off the wall and left with it. He’s kicked the flowers all over the street,” said a raging Peter.

“He was steaming and fell to the floor for ten seconds.”

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Tearful friends of dad-of-one Shaun, 30, gathered on Monday to put up the shrine in emotional scenes.

It depicts the moment close pal and Hibs star Danny Swanson dedicated his first goal for the club earlier this season to Shaun.

The banner is emblazoned with “Justice for Shaun Woodburn” in the green and white of Hibs - the team Shaun supported as a lad.

The man caught on CCTV is described as about six-foot tall and wearing a grey hooded top, black jeans and trainers with white soles.

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Peter is now reporting the attack to police in the hope they can find whoever is responsible.

Shaun died after being felled by a single punch from the then 16-year-old outside Gladstones bar in the early hours of January 1, 2017.

The former Bonnyrigg Rose defender had been seeing in 2017 at the bar with family and friends, including Danny Swanson, Peter’s nephew.

His killer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was part of a drunken gang attacking strangers across the city on Hogmanay.

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Shaun’s killer was charged with murder but this was reduced to culpable homicide during the November trial.

Co-accused Mohammed Zakariyah, 19, was ordered to do 240 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to two assaults and a breach of the peace.

A third teenager was cleared of all charges midway through the trial.

Nearly 70,000 people signed a petition calling for justice for the dad-of-one amid public outcry at his killer’s sentence.

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Denise and Kevin Woodburn met with Crown officials - only to be told no appeal would be lodged.

But Denise said the campaign will go on, not just for Shaun, but for other victims’ families.

“We are going to carry on fighting for justice in Shaun’s name in the hope that others won’t suffer like us,” she told the Evening News.

“I just want to take some time out to remember Shaun’s life, not his death.”