SNS GroupA pro-Palestinian protester’s abuse directed at the chairman of the Glasgow Friends of Israel was not aggravated by prejudice, an appeal has found.
Samuel Stein, 79, was targeted by Michael Napier, 78, in Glasgow city centre’s Argyle Street between February and June 2025.
Mr Stein is Jewish, was born in Scotland and has served in the Israeli army as an Israeli citizen.
He claimed that Napier, a retired university professor, targeted him because of his Jewish religion in an act of antisemitism.
In December, Napier was found guilty of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, aggravated by prejudice relating to religion or perceived religious affiliation and by prejudice relating to race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origins, in terms of section 1 of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.
But following an appeal, judges quashed the aggravation conviction.
In their written judgement, they said they believed the evidence did not “lead to the necessary inference, objectively assessed, that the appellant’s malice or ill will was based to any extent on the complainer’s faith, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins”.
They found that the sheriff in the case made a number of mistakes including failing to state the type of prejudice by which the offences were said to have been aggravated.
“These failings fortify our view that the sheriff has not adequately addressed the question of proof of the aggravation separately and distinct from the index offences,” the appeal judgement said.
During the trial, Mr Stein, a part-time IT consultant, said that he went to Barclays Bank on Argyle Street when he observed Mr Napier’s group protesting.
Mr Stein said that he started recording the pro-Palestinian rally and was later approached by Napier outside the bank.
Prosecutor Gail Campbell asked Mr Stein what Napier said to him.
“He asked me what I think about the chief spiritual leader of the Israeli Defence Force who supports the rape of comely gentile women and would I like to comment,” Mr Stein said.
Mr Stein said he called Napier a “moron”.
A video of the incident was shown to the court in which Napier says to Mr Stein on camera: “What a creep.”
Footage was shown of another incident in which Napier says: “This man supports the people who are breaking the hands of Palestinian surgeons to prevent them carrying out operations. He supports the killing of children…he is a low life.”
Napier was further heard to tell his supporters to “move away” from “contaminated” Mr Stein.
His convictions for threatening and abusive behaviour stand, as does his sentencing, in which he was fined £600.
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