Prominent loyalist David ‘Dee’ Stitt allegedly incited religious hatred by posting a social media “call to arms” while on holiday in Spain, the High Court has heard.
Prosecutors revealed the 53-year-old community worker was on a six-week break in Alicante when the message urging people to attend protests aimed at bringing Northern Ireland to a standstill appeared on his Facebook page.
Details emerged as Stitt, of Lord Warden’s Court in Bangor, Co Down, was granted bail on a charge of publishing written material with intent to stir up hatred.
The court heard that on July 31 a posting on his account stated “enough is enough… get up and stand up” in response to the killing of three young girls in Southport, England.
Listing parts of Belfast, Newtownabbey and north Down where protests were to be held on August 3, it stated: “The aim is to bring the country to a standstill.”
Advice was given for women and children to be at the front of demonstrations at all locations.
The message continued: “”This is the Christian west under siege when children aren’t safe (in) the places we send them to express happiness, joy and fun.
“What can you say to your children in years to come when we had one chance to stop the spread of evil Islam.”
Detectives investigating the published material arrested Stitt at Belfast City Airport on August 22.
“He had arrived back from six weeks in Alicante, and it is accepted that he posted this whilst out of the jurisdiction,” Crown counsel disclosed.
During interviews Stitt told police it was made on a private Facebook account he thought could only be seen by around 700 friends.
He described it as a reshare of a message sent to him about staging peaceful protests, insisting most of the content had been written by someone else.
Stitt claimed he would not have forwarded the original posting if he had read all of it.
But according to the prosecution he had edited, amended and added to the message.
“Police believe this to be a call to arms, with the intent to incite fear or hatred of a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief,” counsel submitted.
“Following this post and the spread of serious public disorder through the United Kingdom into Northern Ireland, there was no attempt by this applicant to walk back (from it) in any subsequent Facebook post or to call for peace.”
Opposing Stitt’s application for bail, she suggested there was a risk he could use his position as an influential community leader to call people out onto the streets.
John Larkin KC, defending, argued that the charge is invalid because the relevant public order legislation lacks extra-territorial powers.
“This post occurred in Alicante, while Mr Stitt was on holiday,” he stressed.
A series of character references were provided in support of Stitt’s application, including letters from Rev Mervyn Gibson, grand secretary of the Orange Order, and a Muslim businessman who also attended the hearing in person.
Mr Larkin also highlighted past incidents where his client worked alongside police on initiatives to reduce community tensions.
“His activity in securing the removal of the Irish national flag from a Twelfth of July bonfire is emblematic of the contribution Mr Stitt makes on a daily basis,” the barrister contended.
“This is not someone who has been involved in public disorder.”
Granting bail, Mr Justice Fowler described part of the Facebook posting as clumsy, offensive and potentially influential on others.
But the judge also cited the defendant’s previous community work and the backing received from his businessman friend.
“He is an appropriate applicant for bail provided there are sufficient conditions placed upon his use of Facebook and other social media.,” Mr Justice Fowler ruled.
Stitt was banned from posting on any internet sites as part of the terms of his release.