Fife youngsters admit carrying out racist abuse

COURT: Teens bombarded man with calls

Two Fife teenagers have admitted carrying out a campaign of racist abuse against an Indian takeaway owner.

One of the youths admitted they had bombarded the owner with up to 80 calls a day in order to “clog up his phone line” in an attempt to ruin his business.

They also went to the High Valleyfield shop and repeatedly pulled down the window shutters to further disturb business during a month of abuse.

The pair, aged 16 and 17, both live in the village but cannot be named for legal reasons. They appeared from custody at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

They admitted that between January 1 and 27 at Tasty Bite Indian Takeaway, Valleyfield Avenue, while acting with others, they acted in a racially aggravated manner causing alarm and distress to Mohammad Shafiq.

They repeatedly attended his workplace, pulled down the shop shutters, made repeated phone calls and called him racially abusive names.

Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said Mr Shafiq began receiving a large amount of abusive calls and started having youths pulling down shutters outside.

Messages he received over the phone included: “Muslim go home”, “9-11 was your fault” and “Black b ****** ”.

During one call, someone could be heard shouting “KKK”.

After being detained, one of the youths was asked by police if he was a racist and he replied “yes”.

Asked why they had made the racist calls he said: “Because I think it’s funny,” adding: “They talk in their own language. I don’t think they should be allowed to do it in our country.”

Sheriff Charles MacNair called for reports. The pair were granted bail and will return to court to be sentenced on March 1.