Minting man sent 'vile comments' on Facebook Messenger

Davey Fraser, 49, of Lincoln Road, Minting, who admitted sending threatening messages to Paul Ponting was said to have sent a number of messages which were described as 'abusive', contained 'repeated swear words' and 'vile comments'.

The messages also implied that he would be going round to Mr Ponting's home address.

Shelley Wilson, prosecuting, said in court on Wednesday (November 9) that Fraser also implied that he was able to access Mr Ponting's government records.

She said Mr Ponting was a frequent Facebook user who often commented on police activity and did not know who Fraser was when he first started sending him messages.

But Ms Wilson did say Mr Ponting did respond to a number of the messages, although not in the same manner as Fraser's messages were.

Fraser, who was not represented in court, said he did 'wind him up' but that he [Mr Ponting] had been doing 'just as much'.

However, he did admit that it had been 'wrong to message him'.

The magistrates imposed a 12 month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay a total of £107 in court costs and charges.

However they refused a request from the Crown Prosecution Service to impose a restraining order to prevent Fraser from further sending messages to Mr Ponting.