Scotland: Teenager apologies to TV weatherman for anti-gay abuse

PinkNews logo on a pink background surrounded by illustrated line drawings of a rainbow, pride flag, unicorn and more.

A 16-year-old boy has issued a public apology to a Scottish weather forecaster for posting homophobic remarks on his official Twitter account.

Lee Glen had launched a barrage of abuse and offensive expletives against STV presenter Sean Batty in June.

He was charged two weeks later after the STV star contacted police.

The Paisley Daily Express reports that Glen – formerly of Erskine but now living in Paisley – appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court and admitted to posting a message to Mr Batty that was grossly offensive, indecent or menacing in nature.

The court was told that Mr Batty was shocked by its content.

On Wednesday, Glen apologised for his behaviour and told the Paisley Daily Express that he lashed out at Mr Batty because of “family problems,” and that he “wasn’t really in the right state of mind” to think about was he was doing at the time.

He told the paper that he had been living with a gay couple for about a month.

“I am definitely not homophobic. At the moment, I’m living with a gay couple, so I obviously don’t have an issue with it.

He added: “However, I would like to say that I’m really sorry about what happened and I know how stupid and naive it was.

“I haven’t had any contact with Sean Batty since it happened and I deleted my Twitter account right after I left the police station.”

Sentencing of Glen has been deferred until October 25.

The case came in the same week that Keir Starmer QC, the director of public prosecutions for England and Wales, announced that new guidelines would be issued in relation to social media abuse following the recent high-profile case surrounding Olympic diver Tom Daley.

The CPS confirmed that no action would be taken against Daniel Thomas, a semi-professional midfielder with Port Talbot FC, who was arrested in connection with an anti-gay tweet about Daley and his diving colleague Peter Waterfield in August.

Comments (0)

MyPinkNews members are invited to comment on articles to discuss the content we publish, or debate issues more generally. Please familiarise yourself with our community guidelines to ensure that our community remains a safe and inclusive space for all.

Loading Comments