CELTIC FANS IRA T-SHIRT RAP IS AXED
Trio’s breach of the peace rap quashed
THREE Celtic fans taken to court for allegedly wearing pro-IRA T-shirts at a powderkeg football match have overturned their convictions.
Michael MacAulay, Daniel Ward and Ryan Walker were spotted by police in Celtic Park with shirts emblazoned with a head wearing a black beret, sunglasses and a camouflage scarf covering the mouth. The Republic of Ireland flag featured in the background.
Police at the Celtic vs Linfield Champions League qualifier believed the image had paramilitary links to the IRA and arrested the trio.
They went on trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court in February where they denied a breach of the peace at the game in July 2017.
The trio were convicted but took their case to the Sheriff Appeal Court where it has been overturned.
Lawyers for MacAulay, Ward and Walker argued prosecutors needed to prove why the image on the T-shirts supported the IRA and had not provided any corroboration. Prosecutors said only the breach of the peace required to be proved, not the fact the image supported the IRA.
But the sheriffs ruled prosecutors had not established the men wore the T-shirts in support of the IRA and had not committed a breach of the peace.
Quashing the men’s convictions, Sheriff Principal Craig Turnbull, said: “The evidence was capable only of establishing that the T-shirts worn by the appellants each displayed an image of a paramilitary figure.
“The Crown did not seek to argue in this case that that was sufficient to support a conviction for breach of the peace.”
The Crown Office was approached for comment.