A man approached strangers and made offensive and racial comments to them, after being ‘influenced’ by black power activists.
Gregory Loudon, known as Jarrett, 25, referred to one of his victims as “white boy” and threatened to put a hole in his head.
And on another occasion, he approached two 16-year-old girls, again made an offensive comment which referred to them as “white” and warned: “God is going to get you.”
Crown narrative
Fiscal depute Lucy Simpson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “At around 7.40pm on April 7 the complainer was walking his dog on North Deeside Road in Peterculter.
“As he entered the village he observed the accused. The complainer noted the accused appeared to be talking to himself.
“The complainer walked further past and saw that the accused was shouting at that point.
“The complainer turned to look at the accused to see if the accused was shouting at him.
“At that point, the accused reacted aggressively and shouted at him ‘you looking at me, white boy?’.
“The accused then started running across the road towards the complainer.
“He was shouting in Arabic and was heard to shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ twice.
“The complainer asked the accused to get back and asked what his behaviour was about.
“The accused continued shouting, stating ‘I’m going to put a hole in your head, white boy’.”
The man then managed to walk away from Jarrett but contacted the police the next morning after feeling “extremely frightened”.
In a second incident, on June 11, swore at a mother and her 16-year-old daughter on the Deeside Railway Line.
Ms Simpson said the pair became aware of Jarrett on a bicycle nearby at around 8pm.
The mother said hello and Jarrett just “stared as they walked by”.
One of them then looked back at Jarrett who responded in an aggressive manner, saying: “What you looking at me like that for?”
As the witnesses walked away Jarrett made a comment similar to “George Floyd forever”.
Jarrett then cycled past them and spat on the ground while “rambling and swearing”.
In another incident on the same day at around 8.15pm, two 16-year-old females were walking on the railway line when they were approached by Jarrett.
Ms Simpson said: “Without any sort of preamble, the accused immediately became aggressive towards the witnesses.
“He was staring at them in a menacing fashion and swore at them.”
Jarrett then cycled off while mumbling, but returned a short time later, made an offensive remark referring to the girls as “white” and said: “God is going to get you.”
The charges
Jarrett, of Brighton Court, Peterculter, admitted two charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, one of which was racially aggravated.
He also admitted a charge, in relation to the third incident, of acting in a racially aggravated manner.
Mitigation
Defence agent Alex Burn said: “The position here is he seems to have been under the influence of some of the activist speakers regarding black power.
“He does accept responsibility for the offences.
“The incidents are bizarre. These are people just going about their business. There’s no antagonism and he seems to kick off for no particular reason.”
Mr Burn said his client also used cannabis and suffers from PTSD due to experiencing “war trauma” as a child in Sierra Leone.
He said: “He was brought up in Sierra Leone and witnessed things no person should have to view.”
The solicitor added his client had not reoffended since the incidents.
Sentencing
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin ordered Jarrett to be supervised for 18 months and carry out 112 hours of unpaid work.
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