Uddingston man jailed for spitting on priest

Canon Thomas White was assaulted by Bradley Wallace as he said goodbye to his congregation after a Mass at St Alphonsus Church last summerCanon Thomas White was assaulted by Bradley Wallace as he said goodbye to his congregation after a Mass at St Alphonsus Church last summer
Canon Thomas White was assaulted by Bradley Wallace as he said goodbye to his congregation after a Mass at St Alphonsus Church last summer
An Uddingston man who spat on a priest as an Orange Walk went past a church in Glasgow last summer has been jailed for 10 months.

Bradley Wallace (24), who wasn’t a member of the organisation or a participant in the walk, assaulted Canon Thomas White outside St Alphonsus Church on London Road on July 7.

He was later snared by the ‘DNA’ he left of the clergyman’s vestment.

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The annual Boyne Parade through Glasgow had around 4000 participants and as many spectators, by 5pm it had splintered into factions who took different routes through the city.

One of the factions was walking along London Road towards its junction with Kent Street, flanked by police officers who took position outside of St Alphonsus Church as Canon White said goodbye to his congregation after Mass.

A large disturbance broke out which took police away from the church, and members of the public who had been associating themselves with the parade became more volatile towards the congregation.

They began to sing sectarian songs, while also shouting abuse and spitting at Canon White and the parishioners – Wallace, who was amongst the group, spat on Canon White’s back.

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Wallace admitted assaulting Father White when he appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court in January, with a possible 15-month sentence reduced to 10 months on account his early guilty plea.

Sheriff Andrew Cubie described Wallace’s actions as a ‘disgusting, cowardly and provocative’ act designed to ‘humiliate and demean’.

He said: “Those tempted to act in a sectarian way must understand society’s repugnance of and weariness of that kind of behaviour and must expect to be dealt with accordingly.”

Meanwhile, latest figures released by Police Scotland – likely to be a fraction of the actual number – showed there were 6736 hate crimes in Scotland in 2017-18.

That’s an average of more than 18 every single day of the year, with around two thirds based on racism.

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