A racist roofer who mocked the death of George Floyd in a vile viral photograph has been ordered to stay indoors for three months.
Jordan McGhie, 30, posed on Snapchat kneeling on his friend’s neck to imitate the killing of Mr Floyd in the USA in 2020.
McGhie had a three-month curfew imposed at Dundee Sheriff Court after his sick post sparked a furious backlash from the public.
But he has now admitted failing to complete the 200 hours unpaid work he was originally ordered to do. He had been ordered to stay indoors from 7pm to 7am for the next three months.
Sheriff Harry Small told him: “You have failed twice to carry out the community payback order and unpaid work. Some punishment has to be imposed for this offence.
“I cannot impose custody if there is another alternative. There is an alternative, by way of a tag, so we will try that. This is the last chance saloon.”
His lawyer has since claimed he would “do anything to avoid custody.”
Sheriff Gregor Murray had previously wrote off the hours of work McGhie had completed and imposed a new order for 200 more hours unpaid work at Dundee Sheriff Court.
McGhie sparked outrage by posing for a picture kneeling on his friend’s neck in the days after Mr Floyd was murdered in the same manner by an American police officer.
The mocking image, taken at a pal’s home in Crossgate, Cupar, shows him triumphantly holding his hands up in the air.
Several people called the police to report the image after it appeared on a Facebook news feed.
He admitted acting in a racially aggravated manner by sending an offensive and racist image on 2 June 2020.
He admitted breaching the 2003 Communications Act by posting an image on social media which was “grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or of menacing character.”
At the time the court was told that McGhie had been forced to flee from his home after a furious public reaction.
Solicitor Catriona Clark, defending, told the court: “This was an act of drunken gross stupidity on his part. The sequence of events was that he had not even seen the video when he posted the image of him doing this with his friend.
“As a result of the reaction it provoked he then looked at the original video and immediately realised the seriousness of it and removed the post. It was removed within six minutes.”
Previously, solicitor Lee Qumsieh told the court: “His position is that there was a challenge going round on social media – on Instagram – involving similar images to the one you have seen.
“He had been with a friend consuming alcohol and saw the post. His position is that he did know the George Floyd scenario and knew roughly what it was about.
“He knew it involved someone dying in police custody, a black man who had died at the hands of the police, but he had not seen the original video.
“He saw this challenge and foolishly decided to take part. He posted the image in question. Immediately his social media accounts met with a significant backlash from members of the public, which included threats of violence towards him.
“He has had to relocate and has moved to a different part of Fife because he was getting so much grief and abuse because of this.
“He was very close to losing his employment. His employer eventually stood by him. He was candid with the police and was extremely remorseful.
“He appears full of regret, is ashamed of his behaviour and embarrassed and is very sorry if he has offended anyone, which he clearly did, given the reaction of the public.”
McGhie has a previous convictions for assault to injury and for a racist offence in 2011.
He was 17 when he subjected a 13-year-old boy to a tirade of drunken abuse on a bus traveling between St Andrews and Cupar.
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