A pair of vigilantes who triggered a riot in Dundee after livestreaming the whereabouts of a sex offender have narrowly avoided a prison sentence.
David Young from Ayr and Caroline Linning from Glasgow used Facebook to encourage crowds to gather in Douglas to carry out a protest.
The incident on Ballindean Road quickly turned violent as police were targeted with metal poles, eggs and other missiles.
Dozens of officers were drafted in from other forces.
The mob of around 300 people then turned on Young and Linning, who were previously warned they faced a jail term for sparking the ugly scenes on September 2 2022.
Scathing sheriff
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith told 57-year-old Young he was the “ringmaster of the circus”.
He said the pair had caused greater risk to the community by exposing the sex offender’s whereabouts.
On Thursday, the same sheriff issued a lengthy and scathing assessment of their conduct.
“You encouraged others to attend a block of flats in the Douglas area with the sole intention of having an occupant of that block removed.
“You caused a tumultuous crowd of between 250 and 300 people to attend.
“Your attendance in Dundee was planned, the commission of this offence was pre-meditated.
“It was done to degrade and humiliate your intended victim.
“Twelve specialist officers had to extricate him and a pregnant woman.
“There was real potential for danger to them.”
Protest arranged
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 to force out, through “peaceful protest”, a convicted paedophile who had been living in the flat block.
Young was heard to say in footage played to the court people in the community were “absolutely f****** brilliant” and that he “couldn’t ask for better”.
The sheriff added: “It is, I suspect, clear that your position is police and the relevant authorities are failing to control and detect sexual offenders.
“You must be aware that you acted wholly outside the law. You are vigilantes.”
Police attacked
Prosecutor Kate Scarborough explained previously how Young and Linning could be heard shouting “beast” and “paedo” and sharing details about the convicted sex offender.
“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.”
Ms Scarborough said around 50 officers from other forces had to attend due to a lack of available resources in Dundee.
Several cars were damaged and the occupant of the property was removed in a police riot van.
A woman and a young child within the property were taken to Ninewells Hospital.
Crowd turned on organisers
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.”
Sheriff’s vigilante warning
Young and Linning pled guilty to committing a breach of the peace.
The pair were acquitted of committing a similar offence days earlier on August 27 in the St Mary’s area of Dundee.
Sheriff Niven-Smith said: “The appropriate message to be sent to society is that if they intend to take the law into their own hands they should expect the full force of the law.
“There will be many people, some of whom sitting in this court, who empathise with you and consider you did nothing wrong – they are wrong.”
Young was placed on a restriction of liberty order for 163 days, keeping him indoors between 5pm and 5am.
Linning must perform 270 hours of unpaid work.
Both will be subject to supervision for 18 months and the sheriff made clear the orders were made as a direct alternative to custody.
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