Three men sentenced over Glasgow Necropolis vandalism

Falconer, Owens and Hay admitted defacing headstones at Glasgow Necropolis

Three men who admitted defacing headstones at Glasgow Necropolis by spray painting racist slogans have been given community sentences.

Scott Falconer, 20, Bruce Owens, 19, and Cameron Henry, 17, caused £40,000 of damage at the city cemetery between 15 and 17 July 2011.

They were caught after police received pictures showing the vandals at work.

At Glasgow Sheriff Court, all three men were ordered to carry out 126 hours of unpaid work.

Passing sentence, Sheriff Alayne Swanson branded the damage they caused in the Necropolis "absolutely disgusting".

'White power'

At an earlier hearing, Falconer, from Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, and Henry from Carluke, South Lanarkshire, pleaded guilty to maliciously spray painting racist remarks and slogans on various headstones.

Owens, from Cranhill, Glasgow, admitted the same offence as well as kicking over and damaging headstones.

The court heard how two gardeners discovered the damage at the cemetery on 17 July 2011.

Swastikas were sprayed on some headstones, along with slogans such as "white power", "dubba", and "punks dead ha".

Some headstones had been kicked over and damaged and there was also smashed glass from broken bottles.

The court was told that on 27 July police received an anonymous email with photographs showing people at the Necropolis that linked them to the case.

Pictures were circulated and Owens was identified as one of the people in the photographs.

Further investigations through Facebook identified Henry as one of the accused and subsequently Falconer.