Dozens facing arrest over online bigotry

[ian1964 10,440]

Home Affairs Correspondent

POLICE are building up cases against 50 people accused of spreading sectarian hatred on the internet in a crackdown on religious bigotry and violence.

They include people who have written abusive comments on Facebook, Twitter and football forums, inciting violence against key figures in the game.

 

Lawyers are warning internet users who considered themselves immune to prosecution are now coming under huge scrutiny and court cases are "inevitable".

 

It comes as new Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland prepares to announce plans to make inciting violence online an indictable offence which would carry a maximum penalty of five years.

 

Police have become adept at tackling internet crime following child pornography investigations and can easily trace comments and internet profiles to their source.

 

Meanwhile, Strathclyde Police have also cracked down on incidents at football games, with more people arrested at two Old Firm fixtures in February and March, than in matches between the two from the previous three years combined.

 

And Chief Constable Stephen House has warned people who send threatening letters, explosives and weapons through the post that the crime is "very detectable" and they run a high risk of being caught.

 

This season has been blighted by sectarianism, fuelled partly by incendiary messages on football forums.

 

Parcel bombs were sent to Paul McBride QC, former MSP Trish Godman, and Neil Lennon, who has also received bullets through the post on two occasions.

 

Lennon was also attacked by a fan who jumped out of the crowd at Tynecastle Stadium, and earlier this week a knife was sent to Donald Findlay QC.

 

Mr House said: "Sectarianism on the internet is certainly a new area for us and we are putting more focus and more resources into it. There's a lot of good things on the internet, but there's also a lot of bad things too, and we need to police that. We're happy to work with the government on that."

 

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He added: "It's the chatroom effect. It's the legitimate fans' website, whether it's the official one for the club or not, and someone comes on and posts comments that are sectarian - that's what we need to deal with, and we need to publicise people being dealt with as a deterrent."

 

He also had a warning for people over mail bombs.

 

"It's very detectable," he said.

 

"We are taking it very, very seriously. There are ways of catching people - I'm not going to get into tactics - but there's a high risk they're going to court."

 

Mr Mulholland's plans are supported by the Scottish Government, which welcomed Strathclyde Police's investigations.

 

A spokesman said: "We back the police in their efforts to crack down on these people.

 

"They should be left in no doubt that they face the full force of the law."

 

Peter Kearney, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, who says he has received 3,000 offensive sectarian e-mails, voicemails and mail in the last six months, also welcomed the crackdown.

 

"Tackling sectarianism online is a crucial part of any effort to end bigotry since the anonymity which the internet affords can cause many to become viciously intemperate," he said.

 

A spokesman for Celtic added: "The treatment of Neil Lennon through a variety of internet sources is well known and, re- assuringly, this is something which First Minister Alex Salmond has raised as a very important issue which must be tackled."

 

David Craig, 23, from Paisley, and Stephen Birrell, 27, from Glasgow, have appeared in court both charged with breach of the peace in relation to comments posted online.

 

Clyde under-19 player Max McKee was sacked after posting on Twitter last month: "Somebody needs to hurry up and shoot Neil Lennon."

 

It came the day after Berwick Rangers youth player Kieran Bowell was sacked for posting on Twitter that he wished the Celtic manager had been killed.

 

Stirling University student, Lee Dunlop, 22, has been charged with a sectarian breach of the peace for posting a picture of him dressed up as Postman Pat, holding a cardboard box labelled with Lennon's name and his club's Parkhead address.

 

Lawyers are predicting a rush of cyber crime cases to come through the courts.

 

Peter Lockhart, a criminal defence solicitor and member of the criminal law committee of the Law Society of Scotland, said: "There will be more prosecutions, that's inevitable.

 

"The problem has been in the past that people have felt they were immune or unlikely to be detected. Now I suspect they will find the long arm of the law will be coming at them through the internet sooner rather than later."

 

The Criminal Justice and Licensing Act, passed last year, included powers to tackle web hate.

 

Under the act, people can be prosecuted if their behaviour is "threatening or abusive" or "likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm". Crucially, it does not require intent and says people who are "reckless as to whether the behaviour would cause fear or alarm" can be prosecuted.

 

That means ignorance of the possible effects of internet hate cannot be used as an excuse.

 

Mr Lockhart said the challenge for police and prosecutors will be drawing the line between football banter and something more serious.

 

http://www.scotsman.com/rangersfc/Dozens-facing-arrest-over-online.6771237.jp?articlepage=1

[johnnyk 158]

you on the list Ian

[ian1964 10,440]

you on the list Ian

 

Cheeky barsteward

[Gazza_8 233]

I reckon you will be on the list Ian. Some of the language you use to describe the "bheasts" from the east is disgusting.

 

:boogie:

Edited May 20, 2011 by Gazza_8

[ian1964 10,440]

I reckon you will be on the list Ian. Some of the language you use to describe the bheasts from the east is disgusting.

 

:boogie:

 

HA!HA!,That probably would be considered sectarian...............................but you've just used that term so I should be ok:D

[craig 5,199]

"Policemen in hot water over sectarian slur" - I can see the headline now Gav

[Gazza_8 233]

HA!HA!,That probably would be considered sectarian...............................but you've just used that term so I should be ok:D

 

You took out my quotes.

[Guest Dutchy]

Can you be convicted retrospectively if these laws are not on the statute book as yet.

 

I'm not sure the current law covers the use of the internet to spread sectarism, but it's just recently they've been going on about covering the net as well, so I assume that it's not yet covered.

[Zappa 0]

They say -

 

The Criminal Justice and Licensing Act, passed last year, included powers to tackle web hate.

 

Under the act, people can be prosecuted if their behaviour is "threatening or abusive" or "likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm".

 

Well, these changes in Scotland and the actions of the authorities are such a shambles that it's scary and alarming, so can the legislators, lawyers and cops involved be prosecuted for causing people 'fear and alarm' at what our country is becoming??

[Guest Dutchy]

That's a very wide generalisation is that. I'd say a police state is where we're going.

 

They have to get control of this internet thingy as they don't control it, yet!