Man who racially abused Humza Yousaf sentenced in court

A man who racially abused Humza Yousaf online has been branded as a ‘narrow-minded bigot’.

Stuart Smith, 64, sent an abusive message to Scotland’s now health secretary on Twitter in November 2015 – the day after the terror attack in Paris.

The message had been sent in response to a screenshot of Yousaf tweeting #PrayforParis.

Smith accused the politician of supportive terrorists following the attack in France.

In November last year, Smith was found guilty of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner aggravated by religious prejudice after a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

His sentencing had been put off on a number of occasions, with a warrant issued for his arrest in April.

On Monday, Sheriff Sean Murphy QC tagged Smith for six months, keeping him indoors between 7 pm and 7 am.

He told Smith: “You misused Twitter to post a grossly offensive message containing derogatory remarks about Islam through your comments about a person of that faith who held – and holds – a prominent place in Scottish life.

“Your behaviour was nothing less than an exhibition of narrow-minded religious bigotry.

“Prejudice of this kind has no place in modern Scotland in the 21st century and you should be ashamed of yourself.”

He added: “I find it impossible to understand why people like you, sitting alone somewhere with access to social media, think it is acceptable to transmit to the rest of the world hateful messages without having to look in the face the people that you are talking to or talking about.

“That is a form of moral cowardice.”