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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Jennifer Russell

Man who sent minister hate mail and called gay people ‘devil’s droppings’ sentenced to unpaid work

A man who launched a hate mail campaign against a minister at a Glasgow cathedral has been sentenced to community service.

Damon Jonah Kelly was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work through a Community Payback Order after sentencing at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Kelly, 57, sent a series of messages to the the Provost of St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow, the Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth.

The messages targeted Mr Holdsworth, branding gay people as the "devil's droppings".

The most serious of the messages urged the minister to hang himself.

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The letters were sent following a reading from the Qur'an in the cathedral at an event at which Muslims and Christians shared their traditions about the birth of Jesus.

Following the sentencing, Mr Holdsworth said: "I warmly welcome the sentencing of Mr Kelly today. No-one should have to face this kind of intimidation. There are no circumstances where it is ever appropriate to send such threatening material through the post.

"These letters had a negative impact on many people including office staff and many members of the congregation.

"At one time, it would have been difficult to get the police to take this kind of thing seriously. Now, that isn't the case and I could not speak more highly of the way that Police Scotland have dealt with this case.

"St Mary's Cathedral remains an Open, Inclusive and Welcoming congregation which welcomes LGBT people and seeks to build goodwill with other people of faith.

"We stand against homophobia, transphobia and Islamophobia.

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"I'm thankful for the good wishes from both Christians and Muslims in connection with this and am pleased that the case is now concluded."

Kelly, from Westray in Orkney was convicted of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner between 30 January 2017 and February 2017 the same year.

The court found that the messages were aggravated by prejudice in respect of sexual orientation and transgender identity.

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