Man who posted sectarian comments on Rangers fans website walks free
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A man who posted sectarian comments on a Rangers supporters website walked free from Inverness Sheriff Court.
In a police interview, 44 year-old Alan Douglas admitted to police making the allegedly offensive posts to the rangersmedia.co.uk website referring to Celtic as ‘child abusing, terrorist supporting , Fenian scum’.
But the case collapsed when the Crown was unable to prove the posts appeared live on the website.
Douglas, of Ardconnel Terrace in Inverness pleaded not guilty to making the offensive posts on January 24 last year.
The trial heard a complaint was received by the Football Co-ordination Unit for Scotland (Focus) about the comments.
The charge was brought under the Communications Act for posting offensive comments on a public forum.
But one of the site’s moderators, pizza shop worker James Donaldson (26), when questioned by depute fiscal Michelle Molley, could not confirm when the comments were actually made or if they posts had been seen live.
Mr Donaldson, who said he was no longer involved with the website, said it was a public forum for Rangers supporters and anyone could register using their email address.
"I didn’t do a great deal of moderating.I was more an editor on the site. I could delete comments or they could be hidden if complaints were received."
He said in January of last year he received a complaint from the Focus group but passed the matter on for someone else to deal with because he was at work.
Depute fiscal Michelle Moley was forced to drop the case because there was no corroboration that the posts had been seen live.
When Mr Donaldson told the court he couldn’t confirm when the comments were posted or that they had been seen ‘live’ on January 24 as alleged in the charge the fiscal said she would not be leading any further evidence or seeking a conviction.
Douglas was then acquitted by Sheriff Margaret Neilson.
Earlier the trial heard evidence from PC Constable Christopher Raffan (24).
He carried out inquiries after being alerted to the comments by the Focus group.
When cross examined by defence solicitor Martin Smith, PC Raffan said he was unable to identify the location from where the posts came but a previous log-on with the same username linked the posts with Douglas.
The officer said he had not been able to view the comments on the website.
The constable then read the statement by Douglas who agreed his comments were sectarian "if read by a republican".
In the interview Douglas said he had been contacted by the website and was told to contact the police which he did.
"I have spoken with the website and asked them to ban me for six months. It’s not that I think I have done anything wrong but to stop Celtic supporters complaining."
He said he believed Celtic supporters were ‘simply on the forum to be offended’ adding: "I think this is a waste of time. It’s just a political game for Mr Salmond and his wannabe Republic of Scotland."
After the case, Douglas said: "You can’t be done for telling the truth."
