Men accused of singing racist song about Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi have trial postponed

The trial of a group of men accused of singing a racist song about Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi was postponed today – because the dock was too small for them to sit in.

Ian McKenzie, 30, Mark Speirs, 26, Dylan Devine, 25, and Marc Newton, 24, are being prosecuted after a video emerged of fans singing about the Japanese international whilst on a supporters bus.

The four men were due to go on trial today at Hamilton Sheriff Court.

Scottish courts are still subject to social distancing rules, with a limit placed on the number of people allowed in each court room, and certain seats taped off to ensure a 1m distance is left between people.

Defence lawyer Stephen MacBride questioned whether the dock, which was around 2m wide, was big enough for all four men to sit in.

Sheriff Moira MacKenzie said a decision to adjourn the trial until later in the year due to the Covid measures had already been taken – and that the accused and their lawyers should have been notified of the postponement.

She apologised for them having come to court unnecessarily, then told the accused sitting in the public gallery: “Unfortunately the trial can’t proceed.

“What we’ll do is give you fresh dates [to come back to court].”

She then adjourned the case until later in the year.

Devine and Speirs had been sitting in the courtroom waiting for the case to begin.

But McKenzie and Newton had to wait outside the courtroom due to there being too many people already sitting in the public gallery.

The bus in question was going from East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, to Dingwall, in the Highlands, ahead of Rangers’ Scottish Premiership clash with Ross County last August.

Prosecutors claim McKenzie, Speirs and Newton sang a song containing ‘racial lyrics’ on the coach and behaved in a threatening or abusive manner, and McKenzie is also alleged to have made an ‘aggressive’ gesture.

It’s also claimed that Speirs and Devine behaved in a threatening or abusive manner by making a ‘racial gesture’ and singing a ‘racial song’ during a separate incident.

Prosecutors claim the alleged offences were ‘racially aggravated’, and McKenzie alone faces a separate charge of possession of class A drug cocaine in East Kilbride in July last year.

McKenzie, of East Kilbride, Speirs, of Wishaw, Devine, of Cleland, and Newton, of Bellshill, will return to court in July.

After footage emerged of the alleged racist singing, Rangers banned the Westwood RSC from attending games, and condemned all forms of racism in a statement.

Celtic also released a statement, branding the alleged behaviour “pathetic”, while Kyogo Tweeted: “I’ll never walk alone.”

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