Ex-counter terror cop fined for social media posts

A former counter terrorism officer has been fined for making threatening comments online.

Robert Douglas, 61, posted remarks about Muslims and asylum seekers on a Facebook page.

At York Magistrates Court on Monday, Douglas admitted sending a threatening message.

Sentencing Douglas, of Church View in Brompton, near Northallerton, Linda Goddard, chair of the magistrates' bench, said the comments were "clearly considered in the language used".

The court heard Douglas posted on a local Facebook page, which was "viewable by all users", on 26 March.

Prosecutor Ryan Thornton said he had been responding to a report of someone riding an e-scooter on a pavement and assumed by their name that they were Muslim.

In the post, Douglas said if he had seen the person riding the e-scooter on the pavement they would have been "dealt with".

Douglas added: "This is a Christian country. You are not welcome in my country."

He said in his post that he was an ex-police officer and a former counter terrorism detective, and that he had previously served in the criminal investigation department in Leeds.

He also commented on the Allerton Court Hotel in Northallerton, a former asylum hotel, which was housing male asylum seekers at the time.

Douglas made what the prosecution described as a threatening comment aimed at "the hotel as a whole", but it caught the attention of a male staff member who was left feeling "worried and scared".

Migrants were moved out of the hotel in June as part of the government's drive to end hotel asylum accommodation.

Douglas made full admissions to police about his online comments, and said they were made in a "fit of anger".

The court heard he offered his "unreserved apology".

"He said he was disgusted with himself after reading the post back," added Thornton.

Lee-Anne Robins-Hicks, defending Douglas, said during his policing career, Douglas was "severely hurt" by a person riding a bicycle or motorcycle on a pavement.

Douglas had responded to a post he had seen by the e-scooter rider, who was annoyed at being "challenged by a member of the public" because they had been riding on the pavement, the court heard.

"He saw that post and it was that post – bearing in mind his own experience – that upset him," Robins-Hicks said.

She added Douglas "bitterly regrets" his actions.

The magistrates noted the defendant's previous good character and fined him £1,138.

Douglas was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £455 and £85 in prosecution costs.

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