Edinburgh crime: Accused branded 'tartan jihadist' by ex-MP in court case

A man who allegedly posted a threatening online message claiming George Galloway should be shot was described as a “Tartan Jihadist” by the controversial politician during a trial yesterday.

Edinburgh Central MSP Angus Robertson and his wife Jennifer arriving at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to give evidence

David Llewelyn is said to have published a “disturbing” message on his Facebook page stating “If you ever see him [Mr Galloway] under a Union Jack with a Tory then please shoot him”.

Llewelyn is also alleged to have posted an explicit picture on his Twitter page of Mr Galloway’s face photoshopped onto an image of an adult having sex with an animal.

He is also said to have publicly posted Mr Galloway’s email address asking others to register the address with pornographic websites.

Former MP George Galloway told the court that he had been targeted by a 'tartan jihadist'

Llewelyn, from Royston Mains, Edinburgh, also posted a Facebook message saying SNP MSP Angus Robertson and his wife Jennifer should be “dumped” in the capital’s Water of Leith.

The 60-year-old accused admitted posting the message about Mr Robertson but denies allegations of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and stood trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday.

He has pled not guilty to engaging in a course of conduct which caused Mr Galloway fear and alarm by publishing his email address and inciting others to register the address with pornographic websites.

Mr Galloway told the court he was sent a screen shot of a message asking others to register his email address with X-rated websites which led to him receiving “an immediate flooding of pornographic content”.

He said he was “horrified” by the message and said his “good wife seen it and my daughter seen it”.

The politician then told the court he was made aware of an image circulating online showing his face photoshopped onto an explicit sexual picture.

Mr Galloway said: “It purported to show me in an act of coitus with an animal. It doesn’t get much worse than that.

“It is grotesque and is totally revolting.

“I have been in politics a long time but I do not think I have seen a worse piece of imagery regarding myself.”

Mr Galloway said he was also left “alarmed” after being made aware of a Facebook message that said “If you ever see him under a Union Jack withy a Tory then please shoot him”.

He told the court the message filled him with “revulsion, alarm and a bit of fear”.

Mr Galloway added: “I regard David Llewelyn as some sort of Jihadist. I believe [Llewelyn] is capable of anything.

“I had ample reason on receiving all of this to fear he may turn up in my garden.

“He is a tartan Jihadist.”

Edinburgh Central MSP Angus Robertson, 52, also gave evidence stating he became aware of an online post concerning him and his wife in January last year.

The full message read: “Angus Robertson says the game’s a bogey. Time him and his social climbing wife are dumped. In the Water of Leith.”

Mr Robertson, 52, said: “[The post was] brought to my attention by my wife. We were having a scan for our second child and we were at a medical facility in Leith [Edinburgh].

“She was distraught. She was extremely upset.

“I felt that it was threatening and aimed at causing upset and that is exactly what it did.”

Mr Robertson told the court he and his wife were living near the Water of Leith at the time and his constituency office was also located nearby.

Mr Robertson added: “In an aggressive context it refers to the dumping of a body. That is what comes to mind.

“It could have said ‘thrown’ but it didn’t, it said ‘dumped’.”

The politician added he had looked up Llewelyn’s Facebook page by typing his name into the search function and had viewed the “publicly accessible” message.

Jennifer Robertson, 40, told the court the abusive Facebook message had left her “crying and sobbing” as she reported the matter to the police.

Llewelyn denies behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by uploading remarks to social media suggesting Angus Robertson and wife Jennifer should be murdered or harmed on January 5 last year.

He also denies engaging in a course of conduct which caused George Galloway fear and alarm by publishing his email address and inciting others to register it with pornographic websites.

He also denies posting an obscene picture with Mr Galloway’s’ head imposed on the picture and posting a message containing abusive massages between July 18 and October 24, 2020.

The summary trial in front of Sheriff Fiona Reith continues later this year.