An Arbroath man who once brought down an aeroplane with a bomb hoax as an act of revenge against the Sri Lankan state has been cleared of racially abusing a national of the island at an Angus hotel.
Former British Council English teacher Alan Patey denied acting in a racially aggravated manner as he left Brechin‘s 180-year-old Northern Hotel.
He stood trial accused of acting in an aggressive manner, swearing and making racial remarks towards hotel boss Sugath Ariyaratne, who is Sri Lankan.
Patey stormed out of the Clerk Street hotel after being charged almost £10 for a double whisky.
He was accused of calling the businessman a “f***ing P*ki” and telling him to go back to his own country.
At Forfar Sheriff Court, the charge faced by the 59-year-old, of Ernest Place in Arbroath, was found not proven.
The confrontation happened on August 17 2022, almost nine years after Patey forced down a Sri Lankan Airlines jet as revenge for his detention and torture in a Colombo jail.
Racism claims
Mr Ariyaratne, 46, and his wife Nishani Vidanaralage, 36, gave evidence before Sheriff Edward Gilroy.
Patey returned to the hotel the same day he had checked in and ordered a dram at the bar, near where Mrs Vidanaralage was working.
He told another employee he was not happy with the price before returning to his room to pack and leave.
As he left reception, he met Mr Ariyaratne, who has owned the hotel for two years.
Mr Ariyaratne said: “The gentleman was aggressive to the staff members.”
Patey returned to leave the key at reception and Mr Ariyaratne said he heard him say: “Go back, P*ki, to your own country”.
He added: “(It was) something like that, I don’t remember the exact words.”
Mrs Vidanaralage said she had heard Patey use bigoted language after checking out.
“As he was leaving, he was using really racial slurs.
“What I heard was: ‘Go back to where you came from, f***ing P*ki’.
“I don’t think anybody would like to be called a P*ki.”
£10 whisky anger
Self-employed writer Patey told the trial he had been out for a three-course meal, including a bottle of wine, before dropping into the bar for a nightcap.
On being charged “close on £10”, he said: “My exact words were: ‘Are you having a bubble?’
“It was exorbitant for a hotel of that nature – it’s hardly The Ritz.
“I said I’m not going to pay that. I left the whisky on the bar.”
Patey said, as he left, he told Mr Ariyaratne not to expect a decent Tripadvisor review.
He also alleged the hotelier followed him into the street and kicked his calves before “thumping” him on the back.
Patey said: “I think it unlikely that I would have used the F-word.
“I use that word very sparingly.”
He said he was aware of Mr Ariyaratne’s ethnicity following another squabble over whether breakfast was included in his bill and thus questioned why he would have used the word “P*ki”.
He told the court: “I used to have a property in Sri Lanka, a holiday home – I would go two or three times a year.
“I was working in Qatar for HSBC.
“My houseboy who worked for me in Qatar was Sri Lankan.”
Sheriff Gilroy did not question Mrs Vidanaralage’s reliability but Mr Ariyaratne’s evidence fell short because he could not remember the exact wording of the exchange and found the charge not proven.
But he told Mr Patey: “It may well be you want to reflect on your behaviour and whether it was wise to become involved in such an argument.”
Sri Lankan Airbus bomb threat
At Chelmsford Crown Court in 2013, Patey was jailed for three years after admitting endangering an aircraft.
Essex police boarded the Heathrow-bound Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A330 on September 20 after it landed at Stanstead.
Officers arrested Patey, who was said to have claimed “something” was on board the flight in the luggage hold.
More than 260 passengers were subsequently bussed to Heathrow.
Colombo jail
Patey’s relationship with the Sri Lankan state had deteriorated months earlier, when he was defrauded and lost a property he owned there.
In an interview following his release from jail, he explained he lost his passport and handed himself into customs as an illegal overstayer, rather than contacting police.
He expected to be fined and deported but was remanded in prison and then a deportation camp.
Patey explained he spent four days in New Magazine Prison and then five more in the notorious Welikada Prison – less than a year after a riot there ended with 27 prisoners being killed.
Speaking to KentOnline, he said guards “delighted” in torturing him and saw him as “like a British trophy.”
After two months in Mirihana deportation camp, Patey was flown back to the UK on a Sri Lankan Airlines flight.
He said: “The Sri Lankan Government owned the airline and the prisons and I can’t believe they were stupid enough to deport me on their own airline.
“This was my one chance to fight back for those I left behind in those prisons.
“I would be quite happy to write to all of the passengers on board that flight individually and perhaps they would understand.”
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