Cricket official who racially abused Scotland international fined £400

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A man who made a racist remark about former Scotland cricket international Majid Haq at a match has been fined £400. Club official Ronald McGregor called umpire Mr Haq a "cheating Paki" during a game at Greenock Cricket Club on August 12 this year.

McGregor, 64, previously admitted acting in a racially aggravated manner which caused or was intended to cause alarm or distress to Mr Haq by uttering a racist remark that day.Sheriff Neil Kinnear ordered him to pay a £400 fine plus a £20 victim surcharge when he returned to Greenock Sheriff Court for sentencing on Wednesday.It comes after Cricket Scotland earlier this month handed McGregor a lifetime ban on attending cricket matches in the country.Sentencing McGregor, Sheriff Kinnear said: "I note and accept that you have been a life-long cricket fan and that as a result of this incident that has come to an end and you have lost the ability to attend cricket matches, which was your passion for many years."At this cricket match you made a racial slur in relation to the umpire of a type which is completely unacceptable."You are no doubt aware of the public outrage that such comments cause."Racist comments are not acceptable to society these days, and probably never have been."They are never acceptable in society so I have to mark this with a significant financial penalty."The sheriff said he recognises it was a one-off incident and that McGregor, from Greenock, has offered to apologise to the umpire.

He said he would have imposed a £600 fine but reduced it to £400 in recognition of McGregor's early guilty plea. But he said the sum would be a "significant" financial penalty for McGregor.