Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘Councillor’s texts found by husband’
Craig Melville — who had to resign his post as a Dundee city councillor and aide to SNP MP Stewart Hosie over the allegations — is alleged to have sent texts to Nadia El Nakla on the two days following the 2015 Paris terror attacks.
Ms El Nakla, a caseworker for SNP MSP Shona Robison, told a trial at Dundee Sheriff Court how she had started working at the party’s Dundee offices in January 2014.
By April, she and Melville started an affair, despite her being married and he being engaged at that point, and later marrying his fiancee that year.
Ms El Nakla told how she was at home on the night of the Paris attacks on Friday November 13 and received a drunken phone call from Melville in the early hours of Saturday. She said he then sent her a series of texts.
One text allegedly read: “It’s not personal I just **** hate your religion and I’ll do all in I’m life do defeat your filth.”
Her now estranged husband, Fariad Umar, 39, told the trial he had spotted messages on her iPhone under the name “Karen”.
He said: “I called it and a male voice answered.
“I Googled it and it came up with Craig Melville’s name.”
Mr Umar later confronted Miss El Nakla who initially denied an affair, prompting the IT specialist to use data recovery software to retrieve the text messages. He later collated them on a disc that was passed to police investigating threats alleged to have been made against Miss El Nakla by Melville, a matter that was never brought to court.
Mr Umar said: “Initially I was only thinking about the affair — but later I thought that someone in his elected position shouldn’t have these views so I sent them to MSPs and his bosses.”
Fiscal depute Joanne Smith asked him: “If it was suggested to you that you somehow manufactured or fabricated these messages what would you say to that?” He replied: “I’d say that’s a lie.”
It is alleged Melville, 37, of Marlee Road, Broughty Ferry, behaved in a threatening and abusive manner between November 13 and 15 2015 by sending a number of text messages containing threatening, abusive and derogatory remarks regarding Muslims.
The trial continues on March 15.
A SHOCKED husband found a trove of racist texts allegedly sent by an SNP councillor to his wife after he discovered the pair were having a secret affair, a court heard.