Man handed suspended sentence over anti-Muslim Facebook video rant

Categories: Latest News
Monday July 25 2016
The Daily Record reports on the suspended sentence handed to a man who posted a video on Facebook in which he claimed an Indian restaurant’s takeaway menu was “an advertisement for funding Islamic terrorism” before setting it alight. In a rant posted online the man is heard saying “We mustn’t fund international Islamic terrorism anywhere. Die you b******s.”
David Soutar, 47, appeared before Perth Sherriff Court in connection with the incident on 7 October 2015. Soutar pleaded guilty to a charge of racially aggravated threatening behaviour.
The court heard that Soutar recorded a menacing video message which he uploaded onto his Facebook page. He had intended the footage to be viewed by his Facebook contacts only but the link was shared more widely and came to the attention of someone from the Manzil restaurant in Perth.
In the video, Soutar holds up a takeaway menu from the Manzil restaurant and launches into a tirade. In a video played to the court, Soutar can be seen saying:
“OK guys, this is how we roll in my house.
“See when we get things like this through your door”
[holds up Manzil take-away menu]
“This is an advertisement for funding Islamic terrorism.
“Believe you me, the Manzil Restaurant in Perth and the Nawaab aren’t actually Indian – they pretend to be Indian.
“But as I found from my little Indian friend up at the gym, they’re actually Paki f***ing Stani.”
Soutar uses a lighter to set fire to the takeaway menu and says: “No more raising money for Manzil. Remember this Perth.
“We mustn’t fund international Islamic terrorism anywhere.
“Die you b******s.”
The video shows Soutar saying “This is what we do to terrorists …We burn the b******s, the f***ing scumbags”.”
An acquaintance of someone connected to the Manzil restaurant brought the video to the owner’s attention and the material was reported to the police.
Soutar’s solicitor, David Holmes, told the court that Soutar acknowledged his recording was “entirely unacceptable” and that there was no indication of a connection to “any organisation of a right wing nature”.
Sherriff Griffiths chose against a custodial sentence and imposed a Community Payback Order of 200 hours of unpaid work instead.
Sheriff Griffiths told Soutar that with “some hesitation” he had decided against jailing him.
The court ordered the forfeiture of the tablet used to record the offending video and gave Soutar six months in which to complete the unpaid work.