Twitter troll fined only £450 for sustained racist abuse against Jews and Muslims
A Twitter troll in Scotland has been fined only £450 for tweeting racist abuse against Jews, Muslims, black people and homosexuals, including: “I hate Jews, homos, blacks (slaves) and am all against Islam. I say kick the f****** out”.
Robert Rankin, 52, was convicted of sending abusive or threatening communications at Paisley Sheriff Court, but in spite of a previous conviction for racially abusing a neighbour, he received a comparatively small fine. However, Sheriff Simon Fraser warned: “This is pretty unpleasant stuff and if you repeat this, you are going to find yourself going to prison.”
We regret that such sustained and vitriolic abuse from a man with an existing criminal record has been so lightly punished. Zero tolerance only works if the courts play their part.
