Rangers 'hun' slur is sectarian behaviour, Scottish appeal court rules

Refusing an appeal against his conviction by David Di Pinto, the Sheriff Appeal Court in Glasgow found that a lower court was “was correct to conclude the appellant evinced malice or ill-will towards police constables based on his perception that they were supporters of Rangers FC and members of the Protestant faith, when he used the expression ‘hun’”.

Mr Di Pinto had been convicted of “behaving in a threatening or abusive manner” at a football match at Hampden Park, with the lower court finding he repeatedly swore at police officers and used the sectarian language, leading to the offence being deemed to have been “aggravated by religious prejudice”.

He was fined £500 and was subject to a 12-month Football Banning Order.

Di Pinto appealed against the religious aggravation element of the conviction – claiming there was no evidence before the court that the use of the word ‘hun’ displayed malice towards members of the Protestant faith.

However, the appeal judges found that it “was within judicial knowledge that the term ‘hun’, was capable of being used as a form of sectarian abuse and thus evidence was not necessary".

Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar said it did not matter whether Rangers were playing in a match where the slur is used, or whether the accused person knows if the person being targeted is a fan of Rangers or a Protestant.

“The historic sectarian tensions within Glasgow and particularly between supporters of Rangers FC and Celtic FC are well understood in Scotland,” she said.

"It is also well understood that supporters of Rangers FC are perceived to be predominantly of the Protestant faith and that supporters of Celtic FC are perceived to be predominantly of the Catholic faith. The fact that the word ‘hun’ is used as a derogatory term to describe supporters of Rangers FC, who are perceived to be predominantly of the Protestant faith, is, in our view, a matter of judicial knowledge,” the judge added.