Al, I am caught between a rock and a hard place. Firstly I know Dave slightly and the little time I have spent with him leads me to believe he is a good man. I read your post as mentioned below and thought "how can you know" that the perpetrators where Eastern European. With the evidence you put forward you could not KNOW and I could quite easily consider it a racist remark as Dave has done.

They may well have been Eastern European, equally they may have come from Lancashire. Without specific knowledge your statement was at best ill judged and at worst........................

I realise you are upset at the accusation and would suppose from your vehement denials that you are not racist but given the evidence I don't KNOW