Teenager fined for racist abuse of Muslim footballer

The Courier reports on a fine imposed on a teenager who posted a racially abusive tweet about footballer Faissal El Bakhtaoui who plays for Dunfermline Athletic.

Lewis Thow, 19, admitted sending two tweets that were grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character via an electronic communications network on 19 March.

Thow had posted a tweet saying French Moroccan striker El Bakhtaoui “peels bananas with his feet.”

Thow also posted a tweet about Norrie McCathie, a former club captain.

Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard that Police Scotland were notified of the messages when screenshots of the tweets were taken and showed on a Dunfermline Athletic club forum.

Thow’s solicitor, defending his client, said the tweets “were meant to be a laugh” and that the comment about El Bakhtaoui was “not meant to be racial”. Thow had been drinking when the messages were posted and his actions were described as a “stupid mistake.”

Thow’s solicitor said his client “did not realise how widely his tweets would reach when he sent them.”

Sheriff Craig McSherry fined Thow £400.