Man guilty of sending abusive Humza Yousaf tweet after Paris attacks

Stuart Smith, of Gretna, will be sentenced next month

A man has been found guilty of sending an inflammatory tweet that suggested Scotland's Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf sympathised with terrorists.

Stuart Smith, 63, claimed the SNP MSP supported "Muslim killers" and raised money for their families.

The message was sent on 14 November, 2015 - the day after the Paris terror attack, which left 130 dead.

A trial heard Smith posted the tweet in response to a screenshot of Mr Yousaf's "#PrayForParis" tweet.

He wrote: "Humza Yousaf, good Scots name I am sure he is 90% backing muslim killers. Be having a whip round for terrorist families soon."

The former farmer was found guilty of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner aggravated by religious prejudice. He will be sentenced next month.

'Hurtful and stressful'

Mr Yousaf earlier told Glasgow Sheriff Court he feared attack by a "keyboard warrior" and that he had been "singled out because of his faith".

He said: "I spent the hours before like everyone else shocked at the events and the atrocities in Paris. I did nothing but send out a public message supporting the victims

"I was on radio and media asserting my solidarity with the victims.

"It is unacceptable that I would be supporting these terrorists and collecting funds for them despite all the evidence to the contrary."

Mr Yousaf, who was minister for external affairs at the time, described the suggestion as "hurtful and stressful".

He added: "There is only one reason why it was directed at me and none of my other colleagues were treated in a similar way.

"It's because of my faith - my Muslim faith."

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf is one of Scotland's most high profile politicians

Smith - a self-proclaimed "hermit" - denied tweeting the message - even criticising its grammar.

He insisted his account had been hacked in the past and claimed that pornography had been posted without his knowledge.

Smith, of Gretna, had a firearm on his profile but claimed it was one he used during his military service in his teens and early twenties.

The gun collector added: "I was issued it as a young man to go after terrorists."

Smith's lawyer Ian McClelland had failed during the trial in a bid to get the charge thrown out.

He had claimed Mr Yousaf was not tweeted directly and that it did not cause fear or alarm to anyone other than the politician.

But, prosecutor Mark Allan argued the tweet was broadcast on a forum which was able to be viewed by the public at large.

'Anti-Islamic feeling'

He showed tweets posted by Smith that same day which referenced politics and religion including a possible next world war between the West and the Islamic faith.

Mr Allan asked if Smith knew who Mr Yousaf was and he replied: "Afterwards when police asked me. I didn't recognise the name at the time."

Convicting Smith, Sheriff Murphy said his "purpose was to abuse and was a bias against the Islamic faith."

He added that he did not accept the "hacking" claim and found it "incredible" that Smith denied knowing who the justice secretary was.

Sheriff Murphy added: "He was a minister at the time and it's clear you are a person who followed political matters.

"The tweet would clearly promote anti-Islamic feeling against a prominent public figure of that faith.

"The content of the tweet is clearly abusive and it's my view it was reckless to issue a post using that language."