Two men fined for Rasharkin-related facebook comments

TWO men from the Ballymena area were fined for posting sectarian messages on Facebook last year at a time when several comments referring to loyalist parades in Rasharkin and North Antrim Sinn Fein MLA Daithi McKay - who is from the village - were posted on social networking sites.

The Magistrates Court in Coleraine was told on Friday (April 13) that Mr McKay complained to police about the nature of the messages and a police probe was launched.

A solicitor for Dean Boyd, from Skye Park, Ballymena, said his client logged on to the social networking site on his 21st birthday on August 25 last year.

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One of Boyd’s posts said: “Kill all Taigs”, a prosecutor told Coleraine Magistrates’ Court.

The PSNI investigation was launched after Sinn Féin Assembly Member Daithi McKay complained to police.

He was concerned about his safety and that of his family following a series of Facebook comments which he felt were directed at him.

District Judge Richard Wilson told Boyd: “I hope you realise how inappropriate and stupid your comments are.

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“Comments like this that incite and exacerbate any tensions within this community and we can well do without it.”

This is believed to be one of the first cases in Northern Ireland of prosecution for a social networking offence.

Stephen McCann, lawyer for Boyd, who expressed remorse in court, said his client had quickly removed the offending post.

The unemployed father of one has a partner who is Catholic, the solicitor said.

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Boyd pleaded guilty to sending a message which was grossly offensive or of a menacing character.

The defendant admitted to police that he should not have posted the message but said it was only intended for his friends, the Public Prosecution Service lawyer said, adding it was not his intention to stir up fear or hatred.

His defence lawyer said it was his client’s birthday and Boyd, who had “taken a fair amount of drink”, logged on to Facebook when he returned home.

There were a number of messages being passed and other people’s comments were “much more serious”, the solicitor said.

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He added: “Mr Boyd did post the comments that have been read out but within 20 minutes he realised he should not have done such a thing and took the comments down.

“He was extremely frank and remorseful to police, in contrast with the responses of the other individuals. The irony is that this man’s partner is a Catholic. He runs in mixed circles and when his friends heard of this he suffered quite a deal of appropriate opprobrium from them,” the solicitor said.

He said his client was “entirely remorseful”.

Mr McCann added: “This was a man caught up in a series of messages on a social networking site and he made one entry and in a short period of time he realised it was an appalling thing to write and he took it down because he saw the replies it was generating.”

Boyd was fined £250.

The court heard the maximum for the offence in the Magistrates Court is a ‘Level 5’ fine or six months in prison. Mr Wilson said he took into account that Boyd had no previous convictions apart from a caution for an unrelated matter but he warned the defendant that if he re-offended he could go to jail.

“No more of it,” he told Boyd.

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A second man, Matthew McKenna, (20), a production operator in Ballymoney who is from Lisnahilt Road, Broughshane, also pleaded guilty to the same charge as Boyd.

A prosecution lawyer said he made a series of comments which named Mr McKay.

McKenna said he was “never prouder” than to have marched past the MLA and referring to protestors’ at parades he said: “Put a bullet in each of the c--ts and they will not be back again”.

It was claimed McKenna said: “Let’s show the scum in Rasharkin how it is done. God save the Queen. For God and Ulster, Kill all Taigs. Lest we forget.”

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The prosecutor said McKenna said he did not mean the comments to be seen publicly but instead were for friends and it was not his intention to create fear for Mr McKay or his family and he was “remorseful” for his actions.

McKenna’s barrister Francis Rafferty handed in to the court a letter which was written by a Chief Superintendent and made reference to the fact that McKenna had previously tried to stop a robbery and had received injuries to two fingers caused by a machete.

Mr Rafferty said that incident was a “publicly spirited action by a sensible, hard-working, young man” which he said was in contrast to foolish “rabble-rousing comments” put on Facebook and his client now apologises to Mr McKay.

Mr Rafferty said that when the Facebook comments were brought to Mr McKay’s attention he reported them to the police “and he was concerned about them being public”, but the barrister claimed, the politician then copied the Facebook page and published it on Twitter where more people saw it.

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Mr Wilson said that was “not perhaps the wisest move” by the politician.

Mr Rafferty continued that whatever “foolish actions” taken by Cllr McKay that did not excuse the actions of McKenna.

Mr Rafferty said McKenna has now “washed his hands of social networking” after being “horrified” by the reaction to his comments.

District Judge Wilson told McKenna, who had no criminal record: “These stupid, rabble-rousing sentiments are better left unsaid and only stir up feeling in the community that we can all do without. We will not stand for it.”

McKenna was fined £400.

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