A disabled Dunfermline man is “outraged” at a £300 fine given to an internet troll.
Barry Barclay, who suffers from cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy, was targeted by John Ritchie with vile comments on Facebook about his disability.
Mr Barclay said: “He was posting comments about my disabilities.
“To be honest it was completely disgusting.”
Ritchie, 29, from Mooreland Gardens, Addiewell, West Lothian, had been a boyfriend of Mr Barclay’s wife Carol around 12 years previously, when she was still at school.
Ritchie previously admitted that on December 29 last year at an address in Dunfermline, he sent messages to Mr and Mrs Barclay which were grossly offensive, of an indecent, obscene or menacing nature and aggravated by prejudice relating to disability.
He returned to court last week for sentencing.
Sheriff Charles Macnair imposed a £300 fine.
Mr Barclay said: “I cannot believe that’s the sentence for somebody who came out with those comments.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of the law but I would have thought there would have been a more severe punishment,” Mr Barclay added.
He said that around the same time each year his wife would start receiving messages from Ritchie on social media.
“It’s always at the same time of year but my wife doesn’t know why that is.
“At first when we contacted the police I thought they would just have a word with him to make sure it wouldn’t happen again,” said Mr Barclay.
“We were told, though, that this was something that the police took very seriously.
“To get to the end of it and have a £300 fine doesn’t look like this has been taken very seriously to me.
“I was outraged when I found out the sentence.
“This doesn’t send out the right message to anyone else sending these messages to disabled people.”