Accuser describes Labour councillor racism claims

Mr Dempster represents Mid and Upper Nithsdale on Dumfries and Galloway Council

A man has described in graphic detail claims that a Labour councillor carried out sustained racial abuse against him and his sister when they were children.

Jim Dempster was suspended by the party last week after admitting making an Islamophobic remark about Transport Minister Humza Yousaf.

Mr Yousaf said the brother and sister later contacted him with allegations of racism dating back more than 30 years.

Mr Dempster said the new claims were totally untrue and had no substance.

And he insisted the language and behaviour attributed to him "does not represent me, or how I conducted myself".

• Islamophobic comment row rekindled

• Councillor suspended over burka slur

His accuser told BBC Scotland he had moved to the village of Sanquhar, near Dumfries, when he was 12 and was almost immediately subjected to "verbal abuse on quite a sustained, constant and daily level" from the locals.

The man and his relatives were of Pakistani origin - although he was born in Scotland - and were the only ethnic minority family in the village.

He said: "They made me feel that I wasn't welcome, that I was different and it was their wee village and I was somehow an interloper and that my kind would never be welcome there.

"That was drummed home to me on a daily basis".

The man said he had only come forward after seeing media reports about Mr Dempster

The man said Mr Dempster was not a councillor at the time, but was a well-known member of the community who later bought a newsagent shop in the village high street after working as a part-time fireman.

He said: "I would always get the impression that Mr Dempster wasn't really happy about me coming into the shop - he didn't like me being there, it almost felt like there was fire burning in his eyes."

He said the third time he went into the shop, Mr Dempster shouted out "here comes the Paki" in front of other schoolchildren, adult customers and staff.

"The whole shop erupted in laughter - they thought it was quite funny, especially the kids", he alleged.

"I just put the money on the counter and I went away. I blamed myself for it - I thought 'what have I done to this man to warrant this behaviour?"'

Humza Yousaf has called for Mr Dempster to resign as a councillor

The man said he had not spoken out at the time.

He explained: "When you are the only minority in quite a small place, there's not that many people you can go to talk about it so we had to alternative but to brush it under the carpet."

He said it was only when he saw media reports about Mr Dempster saying that people would not have been able to see Mr Yousaf "under his burka" that he contacted the politician with his own experiences.

He said he did not know until later that his sister, who was aged about six when the racist abuse from Mr Dempster is said to have started, had also contacted Mr Yousaf.

He added: "I only found out after three decades that my sister was abused (by Mr Dempster) - she was called chocolate monkey, he said she smelled of curry.

"At one point he came with a can of air freshener and started to spray it around the shop. It was something we never spoke about as family."

In a statement Mr Dempster said: "I absolutely refute and deny the allegations made against me".

Referring to a newspaper report that the alleged abuse took place in the 1980s and early 1990s, he said he did not buy the newsagent shop until May 1991.

He added: "The language and behaviour alleged does not represent me, or how I conducted myself. This can easily be borne out by visiting the local community and seeking their views.

"Members of the local Muslim community in Upper Nithsdale are keen to speak to the media and describe me as the man they have known for many years."

'Ashamed and embarrassed'

Mr Yousaf has called for Mr Dempster to resign as a councillor, and to be expelled from Scottish Labour.

Labour is looking at the latest claims as part of the investigation into Mr Dempster that was sparked by the councillor telling transport officials that "no-one would have seen [Mr Yousaf] under his burka".

The councillor later apologised, saying he was ashamed and embarrassed and could offer no defence or explanation.

He also insisted that the "stupid and ill-judged remark is not representative of who I am".

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard told BBC Scotland that he was "quite angry" about the claims against Mr Dempster, and acknowledged that such cases should be dealt with "much more speedily" by the party.

On Tuesday, Mr Dempster issued a joint statement with the imam of the Dumfries Islamic Centre in which he was described as a "good man".