Footballer yelled sectarian abuse

Derek Wingate was fined £500 for the offence

The captain of a Scottish football team has been convicted of shouting sectarian abuse at police.

Derek Wingate, who leads First Division Stranraer, committed the offence outside a Glasgow bar, hours after Rangers won the Premier league in May.

The sheriff dismissed Wingate's claim that he was joining in with the song that was playing in the packed pub.

Wingate, 30, was fined £500 at Glasgow Sheriff Court for breach of the peace aggravated by religious prejudice.

'Carried away'

The court heard that police were forced to move supporters back inside the pub on the city's Paisley Road West as they spilled onto the road.

As one fan complained to an officer, Wingate suddenly appeared at the doorway of the pub yelling at the policeman.

Sgt Andrew McLean told the court: "He shouted 'IRA scum' then shouted 'fenian scum' three times.

"He was pointing and directing these comments at my colleague who was speaking to this other man.

"I believed that he was offending Roman Catholics. I personally felt offended by his actions in relation to my colleague."

Wingate, from the Drumoyne area of Glasgow, was arrested and told police that he was sorry and had got "carried away".

He claimed that he shouted IRA scum to the tune of music being played in the bar.

"I would not have shouted 'fenian scum' as my wife and mum are Catholic, so shouting that would be offending them," he said.