Prosecutors drop case af ter woman accused of anti-trans tweets
AN ACCOUNTANT who faced up to two years in prison for alleged transphobia on social media will no longer face trial after the case was dropped.
Marion Millar, 50, was charged under the Malicious Communications Act for tweets which were published in 2019 and 2020.
The messages investigated by officers are understood to have included a retweeted photograph of ribbons in the green, white and purple colours of the suffragettes, tied around a tree outside the Glasgow studio where a BBC soap opera is shot.
It is believed that a complaint was made to the police suggesting the ribbons represented a noose and, as such, it was treated as a potential hate crime.
Supporters of Miss Millar, a member of the gender-critical group For Women Scotland, expressed relief that the case had been discontinued.
But the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service stressed that the decision was open to review by alleged victims.
Miss Millar of Airdrie, Lanarkshire, opposes plans to let people selfidentify their legal gender.
She has tweeted more than 4,000 times since 2013 and has been heavily involved in debates about reforms to the Gender Recognition Act and Scotland’s Hate Crime Bill, drawing accusations of transphobia from activists.
David McKie, Miss Millar’s solicitor, said that she had intended to defend herself ‘vigorously’ at trial.
He said: ‘She would like to thank everyone who has supported her throughout this case including her family and friends, those who turned up at court, those who donated to her crowdfund and the many thousands who wished her well online and in person.
‘That helped her greatly during a very stressful period in her life.’
Joanna Cherry, the QC and Nationalist MP who was part of Miss Millar’s defence team and has had her own disputes with trans rights activists, welcomed the decision to discontinue the case.
Miss Cherry tweeted yesterday that she was ‘obviously delighted’ by the outcome.
Tory MSP Meghan Gallacher said: ‘I am pleased there has been a resolution to this case which has gone on for some time.’ Neale Hanvey, Alba Party MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, said the Crown had questions to answer.
For Women Scotland said: ‘We are pleased that sense has prevailed and we hope that future cases are considered more carefully.’
Miss Millar was contacted by police at the end of April and asked to attend an interview under the Malicious Communications Act.
She was told that social workers would be sent to care for her young twin boys, who are autistic, while she was questioned.
Miss Millar claimed that she had hardly been able to sleep or eat since officers opened the investigation.
A Crown Office spokesman said: ‘Those directly involved have been informed of an update in this case and there is a right to call for a review of this.
‘Until any review has been completed the question of whether or not there will be a prosecution remains open.’
The Scottish Government has confirmed that it will bring forward plans to introduce a simplified system allowing transgender people to change the sex recorded on their birth certificate – known as selfidentification – in the spring.
Backers of the reforms insist that this change in the law does not impact the spaces or services transgender people use in their day-today lives, and would not see them gain any new rights.
‘A very stressful period in her life’