Death row man beaten after 'suicide bid'

Kenny Richey, who spent 21 years on death row in the US, was beaten up by a man who said he was a boxer hours after he was arrested over an alleged suicide attempt.

Mr Richey, 43, was due at an Edinburgh court yesterday charged with breach of the peace after he was arrested on Friday night when he reportedly slashed his wrists and threatened to jump from the roof of a building in Edinburgh.

Charges were dropped at the hearing. He did not attend because, according to his lawyer, Peter Winning, he was recovering from the attack by a man claiming to be a professional boxer.

Mr Richey later said: "My face is really smashed up and I'm in a lot of pain. The lesson is never to fight a boxer when you're drunk." He said he was beaten up after going to investigate a noise outside his flat.

He said: "We traded blows, I fell on the ground and he was kicking me in the face." Mr Richey spent Friday night under guard in hospital after he slashed his wrists during a row with his girlfriend.