Election candidates busy on campaign trail
Sheriff wants checks on SNP supporter who sent MP abuse
A sheriff has called for a psychiatric report on a SNP supporter from Bannockburn who sent Twitter messages to Joanna Cherry MP which she feared were threats of sexual violence.
Grant Karte was due to be sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday after admitting sending the messages to the Scottish National Party politician.
The 30-year-old sent one which said: “You have 24 hours or I will f*** you like you f **** d Scotland.”
The messages were sent on the day Ms Cherry was “sacked” from the SNP’s front bench by the party leadership.
Sheriff Alistair Noble had deferred sentence on Karte after his guilty plea last month for reports.
Candidates standing for election to the Scottish Parliament on May 6 in the Stirling area have been busy canvassing and campaigning.
Four candidates will vie to replace MSP for the Stirling constituency Bruce Crawford, who is retiring after 18 years at Holyrood.
They are: Chris Kane (Scottish Labour Party); Dean Lockhart (Conservative and Unionist); Fayzan Rehman (Scottish Liberal Democrats); and Evelyn Tweed (SNP).
Over the next few editions the Stirling Observer will be putting some of the main local and national talking points of the day to the four constituency candidates for their responses.
But on Friday the sheriff decided further checks on Karte’s mental state were necessary and deferred sentence again until next month.
Sheriff Noble heard a social worker compiling a report said Karte alleged he’d met Ms Cherry at SNP events and she’d send him messages. As a result, the sheriff said Karte claimed “she would know who he was and appreciate he was not a threat”.
The sheriff also asked prosecutors to check with Ms Cherry to find her “view about to what extent there was contact between the two of them”.
Defence agent Simon Collins told the hearing that his client had been diagnosed with a psychological disorder and found it “difficult to appreciate the emotions of others”.
Mr Collins said Ms Cherry would meet very large numbers of people due to her role, and Karte may have gained
A number of parties and independents are hoping to be elected via the Mid Scotland and Fife Regional list. They are:
Abolish the Scottish Parliament Party (Save £100,000,000 Yearly): Ian Haxton Mann; John Balfour Duff.
Alba Party: Eva Comrie; Neale Hanvey; James Eadie; and Stephanie Reilly.
All for Unity - No to Separatism: Linda Holt; Imam Manzoor Khan; Brian Henderson; Ian Stewart; James Glen; Graham Dawson; and Michael Saint.
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Independence for Scotland the impression there was a “two-way connection”.
The court also heard about Karte’s previous conviction for possession of a knife. The hearing was told he’d been caught with a “small box cutter knife” on his keyring in a Stirling nightclub.
At last month’s hearing, fiscal depute Callum Thomson told the court how Ms Cherry received private messages on Twitter from an account under the name ‘Grant’.
Mr Thomson said the first message read: “You don’t know me or what I’m capable of. Tell me something.” An email address and phone number was also left. A second message added: “Or I will be your worst enemy.”
Another read: “I read between the lines.” The fifth said: “You have 24 hours or I will f*** you like you f **** d Scotland.”
The prosecutor said Ms Cherry found
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He added: “Thereafter she contacted police and a member of her support staff.”
The court heard police investigated the messages and executed a search warrant at Karte’s home address in Bannockburn on February 3.
Mr Collins told that hearing how Karte was having “difficulties with his own life” at the time of the offending and was “apologetic and embarrassed” over it.
Mr Collins said the messages were not intended as sexual threats as Ms Cherry believed.
Karte pled guilty to sending by means of electronic communication network, namely Twitter, messages to Joanna Cherry that were grossly offensive, or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.
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Scottish Labour Party: Claire Baker; Alex Rowley; Julie MacDougall; Craig Miller; Chris Kane; Ryan Smart; Ewan Dillon.
Scottish Liberal Democrats Put Recovery First: Willie Rennie; Peter Barrett; Aude BoubakerCalder; Julia Brown; Jane Ann Liston; Fayzan Rehman; Aisha Mir.
Scottish Libertarian Party: Calum Paul; George Charles Morton.
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