A panel of Scotland’s most senior judges have found a sheriff was wrong to conclude that the word “hun” is a form of religiously aggravated abuse against Protestants.

Appeal judges ruled on Friday that it was wrong for David Di Pinto to be found guilty of a religious prejudice aggravation to his breach of the peace conviction.

The 39-year-old had been arrested during the Scottish League Cup final between Celtic and Hibs at Hampden Park in Glasgow in December 2021. 

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard how Mr Di Pinto shouted, swore and called two police officers “Hun c**ts”.

His trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that he shouted, swore and flailed his arms during the incident. 

Sheriff Anthony McGlennan fined him £500 and gave him a 12-month-long football banning order. 

Lawyers for Di Pinto, 39, of Renfrew, challenged the religious aggravation element of his conviction at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh last month.

Solicitor advocate Ann Ogg argued that the word “hun” did not contain a religious aspect or indicate malice or ill will towards Protestant people. 

The court heard that it was a non-religious slur used to describe Rangers fans.

She told judges Lord Carloway, Lord Matthews and Lord Boyd that there was also evidence available to show that Rangers fans once called Celtic supporters "huns". 

The court heard this was because Rangers fans believed their counterparts supported the Nazi war effort.

She also said that there was an Old Firm match in 1983 when Celtic fans and Rangers fans united in singing “Go Home You Huns” because they didn’t like the Half Time entertainment. 

She added: “It is submitted that there is some dubiety about the meaning of the word hun. 

“It is submitted that because of this, the sheriff was wrong to use their judicial knowledge to make the determination.

“It is not a slur against people of the Protestant faith.”

In a written judgement issued on Friday Scotland’s most senior judge Lord Carloway, who sat with colleagues Lord Matthews and Lord Boyd, upheld Ms Ogg’s submissions. 

The judgement makes references to novelists Irvine Welsh and Christopher Brookmyre and their use of the word “hun”. It also references a book called The Patter which was published in 1985. Lord Carloway describes it as being “a slim and often amusing volume which is intended as “a defining guide to the language of Glasgow”.

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In the judgement, Lord Carloway quashes the religious aggravation component of Mr Di Pinto’s breach of the peace conviction. 

He wrote: “The appeal must be allowed in so far as the conviction relates to the uttering of a sectarian remark and the religious aggravation.”

In the judgement, Lord Carloway also advises how future prosecutions of people who make offensive religiously aggravated comments against Rangers fans be handled. 

He wrote: “If a religious prejudice aggravation is to be libelled in respect of remarks which are thought to be directed, at least initially, at Rangers supporters, care will have to be given to how exactly such a libel can reflect the provisions of section 74 of the 2003 act. 

“Whatever perceptions may exist about Rangers and their supporters, neither can be described as a “religious group” or similar.

“They are respectively a football club and their fans. Their objective is not related to the promotion of religious faith or a way of life but to winning leagues and cups. 

“Rangers supporters exist throughout the world, but they can hardly be described as a group.

"Even if they were, the fact that most Rangers fans may be Protestant, in the very broad sense of coming from that part of European society that emerged from the Reformation, does not make them a group with religious affiliations. 

“Many of the fan base will be secular in outlook, albeit they may profess a tribal loyalty or an irrational antipathy towards the opposition supporters for 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon or a Wednesday night.

“A person who attends at Ibrox, however fanatical, will not think that he or she is attending a religious ceremony as distinct from a sporting event.”

The hearing at the Court of Criminal Appeal followed a hearing last year at the Sheriff Appeal Court. Sheriffs there rejected the arguments made by Mr Di Pinto’s lawyers. 

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In a written judgment, Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar wrote: "The historic sectarian tensions within Glasgow and particularly between supporters of Rangers FC and Celtic FC are well understood in Scotland.

"The fact that the word "hun" is used as a derogatory term to describe supporters of Rangers FC is, in our view, a matter of judicial knowledge.”

Ms Ogg told the Court of Criminal Appeal that the appeal sheriffs were mistaken to conclude that "hun" was a sectarian slur when used in relation to Rangers.

Mr Di Pinto’s legal team had previously argued that the use of the word "hun" did not contain a religious aspect or indicate malice and ill-will towards a religious group.

They noted that a "hun" was a member of a warlike nomadic people from Central Asia who invaded and ravaged Europe in the fourth and fifth centuries.

In the judgement issued on Friday, Lord Carloway and his colleagues concluded that there was ambiguity surrounding the use of the word "hun" and that Sheriff McGlennan was wrong to conclude that it was a religious slur.

He wrote about how this could be seen by consulting dictionaries. 

He added: “The most obvious reference works are dictionaries. The Scottish National Dictionary gives, as the primary definition, ‘Abusive name for a person who supports, or a footballer who plays for Rangers’. 

“Two prominent Scottish novelists are cited; Irvine Welsh referring to Hibs playing ‘the huns in the semi at Hampden’ and Christopher Brookmyre, from Glasgow, mentioning ‘policing the huns next visit’. 

“It cannot be said that these comments, both in the football context, are referring not to Rangers or their fans but to Protestants generally.

“The secondary definition is certainly as an ‘Abusive term for a Protestant’, but the derivation of this is Michael Munro’s The Patter (1985); a slim and often amusing volume which is intended as ‘a defining guide to the language of Glasgow’. 

Mr Munro’s description of “hun” is not in the context of abuse but: ‘A nickname for a Protestant. Also a vague non-sectarian insult much used in football chants like ‘The referee’s a hun’ or ‘Go home ya hun’” (emphases added).

“This definition is adopted as a fifth meaning in the Oxford English Dictionary which thus describes “hun” as referring to “A Protestant” but also to “a supporter of or player for Rangers …”

The judges then quashed the religious aggravation aspect to Mr Di Pinto’s breach of the peace conviction.