Two vigilantes triggered a riot in a Dundee scheme after livestreaming the whereabouts of a convicted sex offender.
Metal poles, eggs and other missiles rained down on police who removed the paedophile from a flat in the Douglas area over fears for his safety.
As many as 300 people descended on Ballindean Road for several hours with dozens of riot officers deployed to bring the scene under control.
David Young, 57, and Caroline Linning, 47, have now been warned they are facing a prison sentence after they admitted “encouraging” people to gather in September 2022.
Bedlam
The pair were part of the Scottish Justice Team, an online organisation targeting sex offenders, Dundee Sheriff Court was told.
The livestream had encouraged people to try and force out a convicted paedophile who had been living in the flat block via “peaceful protest”.
Young was heard to say in footage played to the court that the people in the community were “absolutely f****** brilliant” and that he “couldn’t ask for better”.
However, the stand-off descended into bedlam with Young and Linning on the receiving end of abuse and violence from the angry mob.
Sheriff Timothy Niven-Smith was visibly unimpressed with the pair’s conduct, saying: “I would have thought that anyone who could pause and hesitate and think about it, it would be self-evident that by arriving at a particular place, having posted your pending arrival and whipped up the crowd as you did Mr Young, as the ringmaster of the circus, it’s hardly unsurprising people attended and took the law into their own hands.
“Whilst as a parent, I could on one hand empathise to some extent with the displeasure of people living in your estate who are a convicted sex offender, there are people who undertake a prodigious body of work in order to protect the public.”
The sheriff said that Young and Linning had actually caused a greater risk to the community by having the man removed.
“In my experience, some sex offenders go to great lengths to disguise their identity,” Sheriff Niven-Smith added.
“They change their name by deed poll, they change their bank accounts and attempt to hide under the radar.
“You should both be prepared that it may be that there are no alternatives to imprisonment when the case is next called.”
Facebook appeal
Prosecutor Kate Scarborough said Facebook was used to encourage people to gather at the address to stage a “form of protest” against a registered sex offender living there.
She told the court: “During the course of the incident, both accused were noted to be shouting and swearing towards the property and the general vicinity.
“Examples are ‘beast’, ‘paedo’ and were shouting details about the person they believed to be the occupier and the nature of his offending.
“A large crowd did form that evening. The police estimated the crowd reached between 250 and 300 people.
“During much of the incident, the accused were both seen to be involved in livestreaming the event onto Facebook.
“A large scale disturbance involved eggs being thrown, pieces of wood and metal poles being thrown.
“Police had to be deployed in tactical gear with shields.”
Woman and young child hospitalised
Ms Scarborough said that around 50 other officers from other police forces were required to attend due to a lack of available resources in Dundee.
Several cars were damaged and the occupant of the property was removed into a police riot van. A woman and a young child within the property were taken to Ninewells Hospital.
Linning could be heard on a livestream saying she had been spat on and punched by people in the crowd.
Young described the scenes as being akin to “the OK Corral” and warned other vigilante teams not to operate in area.
He said in the video: “They all think we were out of order trying to help the police keep order. The streets are a mess. That was unpredictable what happened.
“I can’t stress enough to the police how sorry I am the way this turned out.”
Young, of Ayr, and Glasgow resident Linning, pled guilty to encouraging people to attend at Ballindean Road, shout, swear, repeatedly broadcast details in respect of the occupier and what they believed to be the nature of his conviction and committed a breach of the peace on September 2 2022.
The pair were acquitted of committing a similar offence days earlier on August 27 in the St Mary’s area of Dundee.
The pair will return to court for sentencing next month following the preparation of social work reports.
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