Scots firearms cop wins £44k compensation after colleagues wrote 'f*** the Pope' slur on Celtic FC mug
A Catholic firearms officer has won almost £44,000 in a religious harassment case after 'f*** the Pope' was written on his work coffee mug. Police Sergeant Paul McCue discovered the message had been graffitied on the underside of his Celtic Football Club mug and was so upset he had to go home from work.
Sgt McCue, a Roman Catholic, had previously fallen out with colleagues he believed to be Protestant on nights out, the Glasgow tribunal heard. But in June 2020 he was left upset when he found a note saying 'UDA no surrender' in his pigeon hole. A tribunal report said: "Sgt McCue found the letters 'FTP' having recently been written on the underside of his mug in the kitchen area having been away from the unit the previous week. He reported the incident to Police Scotland.
"He was upset and had to go home. He was unable to continue working that day and commenced a period of sick leave with work-related stress. Sgt McCue stated he would inform Police Scotland as a hate crime." But, it found there were 'no widespread problems of sectarianism'. It found 'there were clearly some personal animosities and occasional allegations and counter-allegations but no more'. Group training sessions were carried out, with some suggesting 'this is normal banter'.
"While the time between the second and third incident was significant, the Tribunal considered that it was likely that the same person or persons were behind the incidents which amounted to a continuing act of religious harassment." Sgt McCue's religious harassment claim over the mug incident succeeded as 'reasonable steps' including carrying out a formal investigation were not carried out.
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