Man fined for shouting homophobic abuse at police who asked him to turn the TV down

A man in Scotland has been fined after he shouted a homophobic remark at police officers who asked him to turn down the volume of the music coming from his TV.

The Press and Journal reported Gavin Hampton was fined £270 by Inverness Crown Court after he admitted to a charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner with a sexual orientation aggravation on 9 May 2020.

According to the Scottish news outlet, several police officers had attended Hampton’s flat in Telford Street in Inverness, Scotland after receiving a complaint about the volume of the music coming from his TV.

Fiscal depute Pauline Gair explained to the court that Hampton was aggressive towards officers present at the scene. At some point during the interaction, Hampton complied with the officers, and police began to exit the building where Hampton was housed.

However, Gair said the music was turned back on, according to the Press and Journal. She told the court that she warned Hampton that his equipment would be seized if he didn’t reduce the volume of the music on his TV.

The officers went to leave the building once again when Hampton shouted a homophobic remark at them from the window of his flat, the Press and Journal reported.

John MacColl, a defence solicitor who represented Hampton in court, argued that his client isn’t homophobic but was involved in a “dispute” with police. He told the court that Hampton was “pushed” after “getting too close” to the “four police officers” who were called to his client’s flat.

MacColl added that Hampton then invited the police into the flat, but there was a “further dispute”.

“They left not seeing a need to arrest him, but when he shouted at them, that was the catalyst for the arrest,” MacColl said. “He is not homophobic.”

However, Sheriff Margaret Neilson fined Hampton over the incident with the police. According to the Press and Journal, she also told him: “It was a stupid thing to do.”