A DRUNK thug who slashed an Edinburgh University student in the face with a knife at a pro-Palestine protest has been jailed.
Thomas McKenzie launched the assault on Ben Law while the latter was attending the rally at the capital’s George Square earlier this year.
The 37-year-old confronted a group of protesters where he shouted racial slurs and performed Sieg Heil salutes.
When challenged, he then pulled out a sharp blade and slashed Law in the face.
It also led to accusations from Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine (EUJP), a student organisation which organised the protest, that campus security was negligent in allowing the attack to happen.
The organisation alleged that security guards watched the man become increasingly more aggressive but did not intervene, claiming they “failed to protect” student protesters.
McKenzie was prosecuted under the Hate Crime and Public Disorder (Scotland) Act 2021 was sentence on Tuesday, with his lawyer saying he had been drinking heavily and suffered a family bereavement the day before the protest.
Sheriff Julius Komorowski, meanwhile, described the attack as "disproportionate and wicked" and added that the social work report states McKenzie is "highly likely to reoffend in an analogous manner in the future".
The sheriff added: "That you chose to confront a political protest is a significant aggravating factor.
"People are entitled to protest peacefully even in topics that some might find sensitive or divisive."
Law, meanwhile, told the court: "I have mixed feelings regarding the sentencing but I realise the guy is not a safe individual to be on the streets.”
He added: "He was trying to instigate a confrontation and was targeting non-white protestors.
"After some of the protestors tried to get him to leave he pulled out what I believe was a box cutter and slashed me across the face.
"The university security at the protest had previously been alerted to the man and knew he had a knife but didn't do anything about it before he attacked me.
"I really hope the publicity around this will see a change made to the security at the university to help make it a much safer place for everyone in the future."
McKenzie was sentenced to a 22 month jail term with a further 12 months of supervision following his release from custody.
