MP Steven Bonnar has been cleared of charges after Viewpark altercation over Celtic flag

The MP for Coatbridge Chryston and Bellshill Steven Bonnar has been cleared by prosecutors after a widely reported incident last year in Viewpark after the politician was taken to task by another man outside his home.
Steven BonnarSteven Bonnar
Steven Bonnar

Mr Bonnar (38) who had won the seat just five months previously was challenged by the other man last April who had taken exception to the fact that the Scottish Nationalist Party man had displayed an item with a Celtic logo in his window.

Their bad tempered encounter was filmed and widely distributed on social media, including Rangers websites -and sparked national headlines.

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At the time the police said that no criminality was involved.

However, investigations into the incident continued -with a differing conclusion a month later.For both men were charged under Section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) act which criminalises threatening or abusive behaviour - but all charges have now been dropped.

A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service confirmed: “The Procurator Fiscal received a report relating to two males aged 38 and 51, and an incident said to have occurred on April 16 2020.

“After careful consideration of the facts and c ircumstances of the case, including the available admissible evidence, the Procurator Fiscal decided that there should be no proceedings taken at this time.

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"The Crown reserves the right to proceed in the future should further evidence become available."

Mr Bonnar said: “I apologise for allowing myself to be drawn into an incident that I have been rightly cleared for.

"I was just new in the job but it wasn’t the first time I had faced this type of stuff – sectarianism - but I had just let myself down a wee bit by letting my guard down.

"“They charged me on my doorstep and I have never heard another word from Police Scotland on this matter. Nobody questioned me in this investigation, start to finish,

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“Not one question was asked of me, other than would I accept a police caution.

"You don’t want it to define you because you want to be defined by doing the best job that you possibly can but I don’t want this stuff to define me either. “

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