https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7854xn7yn8o

A 53-year-old man has appeared at Belfast Magistrates' Court charged with distributing written material to incite hatred.

Prominent loyalist David Stitt, with an address in Lord Warden’s Court in Bangor, is charged with distributing written material which was threatening, abusive and insulting and intending to stir up hatred or arouse fear.

The court was told that the defendant posted on his Facebook account calling for people to attend gatherings in relation to anti-immigration protests in Belfast.

The post was a reshare of another post calling for people to attend gatherings.

According to police, there have now been 43 people arrested and 34 charged in relation to disorder in Belfast in recent weeks.

The court was told that Mr Stitt had asked his followers to “please share far and wide – this is about our families, the police are powerless – and that the aim is to bring the place to a standstill”.

The defence asked the judge to consider that others also shared the post and that Mr Stitt had been charged with re-sharing a post about a protest, not violence.

Mr Stitt's lawyer said that those charged in court to date had been involved in violence and this post was well below that.

He added that he felt there was no connection between Mr Stitt’s post and any violence in Belfast.

The defence said that this was a copy and paste job "with a bit added on", adding that Mr Stitt had fully co-operated with police, has not made any posts since and was not at any of the protests himself.

The defence also argued that citizens have a lawful right to protest.
Bail refused

Police told the court that they opposed bail for Mr Stitt as the post was related to the attacks.

The court heard detectives said the violence has not gone away and they would have concerns that Mr Stitt would continue to commit further offences through social media.

The defence argued that in the 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement, Mr Stitt has been working in a cross-community capacity and that on the 12 July this year he worked with senior police officers to remove tri-colours from the bonfires in North Down to help community relations.

However, the judge refused bail due to the risk of re-offending and the risk to the public.

The case is due to be heard again on 20 September.

by HeWasDeadAllAlong

14 comments

  2. The shameless systematic suppression of the traditional loyalist culture of hatred, persecution and extortion of the innocent and defenceless continues unabated 🙂 If this continues, people might begin to suspect who the truly worthless members of our society are! I may have to write to The Newsletter.

  3. Arrested at Belfast City airport too. Not confirmed if it was inbound or outbound but I like to believe he’s just had his holiday ruined.

  5. This is an incredibly dangerously low bar for prosecuting someone.

    A lot of this sub could be prosecuted on such a flimsy basis.

  6. we should give him a break really, he once removed ireland flags from the 12 july bonfire, with senior police officers.

    come on now, im sure it happened. doesnt say before or after the fire mind you.

  7. Lord Warden’s is viewed as quite a pricey place in Bangor outside of the Bryansburn Road. He’s ironically meant to be the top man of Kilcooley Estate’s UDA presence. How’d you afford that, Mr Stitt? Half his neighbours are cops.

    EDIT: Corrected UVF to UDA.

  8. Kinda crazy you can get charged for re sharing something on FB lol

  9. I wonder will he be able to afford Bumhole of the Bailey and his stellar record for legal representation?

  10. Funny how he had no problem with Muslims when he went to an Islamic country to get those blindingly atrocious fake teeth

  11. Being a loyalist, you incite hatred by default. About time. Now drag rats like Bryson into court too

  12. This scumbag has been courted by the dup for years.
    Enough is enough .

  13. Was Stitt one of those to avail of the early release scheme after the GFA? If so, is it a possibility that he’ll be remanded into custody to serve out the remainder of his sentence?

    I’m wondering if some of the people organising the race-hate riots (many being former/current paramilitaries) have violated the terms of the amnesty.

  14. There has to be something more to this.

    As much of a hateful (and cowardly cos he didn’t even go to the protests) cunt Stitt is, if he was calling for protest and only protest as the article seems to report, then it doesn’t warrant this level of action.

    Purely guessing but the “bit added on” may rise to that level or he’s been at something from unnamed accounts or private messages.

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