THE friends and family of a man who died following a disturbance inside a Glasgow restaurant are calling for justice, after no prosecution was brought.

Samuel Thomson was involved in an incident at Madha restaurant, Albion Street, on December 17.

The 44-year-old business manager was fatally injured on the scene after a man ‘restrained him too hard’ during an altercation.

Samuel, who suffered catastrophic brain damage, was kept on life support for a week but passed away on Christmas Eve surrounded by his friends and partner.

His body was not released to the family until more than a month later.

A funeral for the much-loved friend, brother, son, uncle and partner, was finally held 53 days after his death.

Now, his family have been told that there will be no further criminal proceedings brought against a man who was arrested and charged by police at the time of the incident.

For all your breaking Glasgow news, click here, or head to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages

A close friend of Samuel, who lived in the Saltmarket area of the city, is leading the fight for justice.

Tom McGill told the Evening Times: “We don’t want an eye for an eye but we want someone to be held accountable. There has been a crime here, someone has lost their life.

“You drop a bit of litter on the street and you get fined. You take someone’s life and it’s a pat on the back and away you go? That’s not right.”

Samuel, who worked for public service provider Serco, spent his final day meeting up with friends and buying a Christmas gift for his nephew, before stopping at Madha for a meal.

A dispute arose after the bill arrived and was £7 more than he expected for the set meal.

According to restaurant staff, Samuel paid £20 and left the premises, and was pursued by a waiter.

Following a conversation between the two men on Albion Street, they returned to Madha where a further discussion took place and Samuel allegedly pushed the staff member.

It was at this point that an unknown individual, who was not a member of staff, approached from behind and began to restrain Samuel.

The man placed such force on him, Samuel suffered hypoxic brain damage, caused by his oxygen supply being cut off.

He lost consciousness while being restrained and was left brain dead.

Samuel, who was born in Ayrshire but spent the last decades of his life in Glasgow, was described as a “gentleman” by those who knew him.

During his life he worked on the Isle of Arran, before moving to Glasgow where he worked for Serco, The Listening Company, and Essentia.

A fundraising page set up to help pay for his funeral raised £1690 and was inundated with messages of condolence.

His friends described him as a popular and important figure in Glasgow’s LGBT community, echoed by donations to his fundraiser made by the Merchant Pride bar.

For all your breaking Glasgow news, click here, or head to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages

Tom added: “From the age of 14, he was supportive to his family, to his parents and sisters.

“He recently used a redundancy package to travel the world. Him and I had an agreement that I would go collect his body if anything happened to him abroad – not thinking that it was going to happen in Glasgow city centre.

“Sam had a partner in Glasgow, who he was devoted to. He worked hard all his life and for this to happen in a place he had made his home is awful.

“Sam was a gentleman. He was the person people would go to for advice and support, including the Glasgow gay scene. He was an active member of gay rights movement.

“That was evident from the amount of people who attended his funeral.

“He was a massive part of our community. A part of us has been taken over £7.

His friend added: “He was such a lovely man, he would do everything for anyone. He will be sorely missed by his family and all his friends.

“What the Crown has done is rub salt in a very raw and deep wound.

“We’re trying to figure out how to move forward.”

Joseph Joseph, owner of the Madha, said he had not been made aware of Samuel’s death and was not at work on the night of incident but had been called round immediately after.

He arrived before CID officers and reviewed CCTV footage from the night.

He added: “I called the police every day for four days to find out what happened to the man, and they told me he was getting better and responding well to treatment.

“Police officers told me that the diner had restrained him too hard.

“I’m devastated that this has happened inside my business and I can only apologise to the man’s family.

“My staff were not involved in the incident, it’s unfortunate that it happened here."

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland confirmed that a 44-year-old man was taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary and a 45-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection with the disturbance.

A Crown Office spokesman said: “The Procurator Fiscal deals with every case on its own individual facts and circumstances and will take action where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to do so.

“Following full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of this case, Crown Counsel instructed that there should be no further criminal proceedings.”