Police officer let off after anti-Muslim Facebook rant
A RETIRED police officer who was reported by former colleagues for posting anti-Muslim comments online in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing has walked free from court.
Gordon Macleod, 62, unleashed a vile rant the day after the atrocity that left 22 dead and many more injured at an Ariana Grande concert.
Macleod, who served in the police for 26 years, wrote on Facebook that he believed: ‘All suicide bombers are Muslims, sorry but think that’s the case.’
Macleod, of Larbert, Stirlingshire, later said: ‘Islamists are trying to wipe out our culture with suicide bombers.’ Two former colleagues, Alison Rennie and Bushra Sitar, were left stunned by his views and complained to their superiors.
In one exchange, Macleod posted: ‘I have no time for any of them.’
Miss Sitar replied, ‘Them? As in me? I’m Muslim too and proud to be so’, but he simply said ‘scum’ in his next comment.
In an another post, he wrote: ‘I don’t know any suicide bombers that are not Muslims, just my opinion, hate them with a passion. Total scum.’
Macleod denied making grossly offensive comments aggravated by religious prejudice in May last year but was convicted after a trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court.
However, he was given an absolute discharge by Sheriff Ross Macfarlane, QC, who said he took his police service into account and noted that he had Muslim friends.
Macleod finished his career in a contact centre advising civilian staff. Miss Rennie and Miss Sitar attended his retirement party but cut all ties after the incident.
Prosecutor Wendy McAdam said: ‘The conduct that he has displayed is grossly offensive... especially due to the fact that in the conversation, one of the participants was Muslim herself and she even asked the accused to stop commenting the way he was.’
Macleod told officers he did not remember making the comments, adding: ‘I’m shuddering to see what I put on there.’ He also told them his wife had warned him to stop commenting online when he had been drinking.
Neil Hay, defending, said: ‘He is sorry and remorseful about his conduct and recognises his comments were inappropriate. Key to this was the drinking.
‘Red mist descended because of the very emotive events that took place in Manchester. He accepts being reckless with his choice of language.’
Macleod was found guilty by Sheriff Macfarlane, who told him: ‘You denigrated the entire Muslim community in general by posting these comments and you were not in a fit state to post anything because you were drunk but that is no excuse.
‘We are all outraged by terror but this is not the way to go about expressing that.’