Swearing and calling police “hun” was aggravated breach
A sheriff was entitled to conclude that the use of the term “hun” along with other abusive language towards police officers by a football supporter who was being warned and then arrested by police, was in a sectarian context and supported a conviction of statutory breach of the peace aggravated by religious prejudice, the Sheriff Appeal Court has held.
Sheriffs Principal Aisha Anwar and Derek Pyle, and Appeal Sheriff Brian Mohan, gave the decision in refusing an appeal by David Di Pinto against conviction of an offence under s 38(1) of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2010, aggravated by religious prejudice in terms of s 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003.
The alleged offence took place at a match in Glasgow between Celtic and Hibernian. The accused had been behaving aggressively, shouting and swearing. When he was approached and warned by police officers he shouted “Fuck you, hun cunts”. He was arrested and continued to shout and swear. At trial he accepted guilt under s 38(1) but denied the aggravation. The only evidence in relation to “hun” was from one police officer who said he understood it to be a derogatory term for a supporter of Rangers FC. The sheriff considered it within judicial knowledge that that was the case and that Rangers were perceived to have a predominantly Protestant support.
On appeal it was argued that while “hun” was mainly used to describe Rangers supporters, it was not within judicial knowledge, nor could it be inferred, that it was also a slur for an individual of the Protestant faith. The term had been directed at the police, whom the accused did not know; Rangers had not been playing.
Giving the opinion of the court refusing the appeal, Sheriff Principal Anwar said it did not matter whether Rangers were playing, or whether the accused knew the officer to have been a Rangers supporter or a member of the Protestant faith. Nor did it matter whether the officer understood “hun” to refer to a particular faith, if that was the general understanding within society and could be deemed within judicial knowledge.
Judicial knowledge could in appropriate circumstances be local in nature. The predominant religious affiliations of Rangers and Celtic supporters were well understood. “The fact that the word ‘hun’ is used as a derogatory term to describe supporters of Rangers FC, who are perceived to be predominantly of the Protestant faith, is, in our view, a matter of judicial knowledge. The local knowledge of the sheriff who had little hesitation in concluding that the term ‘hun’ was ‘sectarian as being an offensive slur directed at someone of Protestant faith’ requires to be afforded considerable respect.”
Whatever the historical origins of the word, it had now been adopted as an abusive sectarian term, in the same way as “fenian” as a term of abuse towards Celtic supporters and perceived Catholics.