Councillor denies text charges

A former Dundee SNP councillor will stand trial after being accused of sending Islamophobic text messages to a Muslim colleague.

Craig Melville, former Maryfield councillor and environment convener for Dundee City Council, pled not guilty to the charge yesterday.

It is alleged that between November 13 and 15 2015, at Marlee Road in Dundee and elsewhere, he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm.

The charge states that Melville, 36, sent a number of text messages to Nadia El-Nakla that contained threatening, abusive and derogatory remarks regarding Muslims.

A trial date has been set for October 19, with an intermediate diet on September 28.