Dee Stitt remanded in custody accused of inciting hatred in Facebook post

Prominent Northern Ireland loyalist David 'Dee' Stitt has been refused bail after appearing in court charged with publishing material with the intent of stirring up hatred.

Stitt, 53, from Bangor, was arrested at Belfast City Airport after arriving on a flight on Thursday evening.

Appearing in the dock of Belfast Magistrates' Court on Friday dressed in a grey sweater, Stitt, from Lord Warden's Court, said "not guilty" after he confirmed that he understood the charge.

A PSNI detective constable told district judge Steven Keown that he could connect the accused to the single charge of publishing written material which was threatening, abusive or insulting with the intent of stirring up hatred or arousing fear.

The charge relates to a single post on Facebook on July 31 where Stitt shared a copy-and-pasted call for protests across Northern Ireland in response to the murder of three young girls in Southport.

The court heard that the post urged people to bring the country to a "standstill" and listed several protest times and venues in Northern Ireland and advised demonstrators to ensure women and children were at the front of the events.

It also referred to the "Christian west" being "under siege" and claimed that people had "one chance" to "stop the spread of evil Islam".

Refusing Stitt's bail application, Judge Keown said "we have seen over the last number of weeks the consequences of words such as this".

The judge said there was "no hierarchy" of individuals within the community and said there was a "fundamental problem" with regard to people who viewed some religions as evil.

"People who hold that view are the ones who are a threat to our society, not the hard-working people from whatever community who increasingly contribute to our society," he added.

He refused Stitt bail on the grounds of the risk of reoffending and a risk to the public.

Earlier in the hearing, Stitt's solicitor - Gavin Booth from Phoenix Law - unsuccessfully challenged the basis upon which police connected his client to the charge.

He said Stitt accepted making the post on Facebook but characterised it as a "cut-and-paste job" with a few words of introduction by his client in which he stated he did not usually post political messages on his account.

In relation to the main body of text, the lawyer added: "This is a cut-and-paste job, those are not his original words."

Mr Booth said his client had no intention of inciting violence and he was only exerting his right to freedom of expression and right to peaceful protest.

However, the detective constable said police viewed the contents of the post as a "call to arms" that encouraged people to "take the law into their own hands".

Applying for bail, Mr Booth said Stitt had a track record of working positively over the last 25 years with the PSNI, Stormont's Department of Justice and other agencies on conflict resolution work within his community.

The solicitor described him as a "positive" voice who was involved in work bringing together divided communities, including by participating in educational trips to Auschwitz in Poland.

He said that in July, Stitt had worked with police and the St John's Ambulance at bonfire sites in North Down and had ensured that Irish tricolour flags were removed from loyalist bonfires in the area.

Mr Booth added that the immigration protest that took place in Bangor following Stitt's post had been entirely peaceful and highlighted that there had been no disorder in the North Down area similar to that witnessed in other parts of Northern Ireland.

The solicitor said his client's case was "entirely different" to those people who had appeared before court accused of rioting and other violent behaviour linked to the recent bouts of disorder.

He characterised him as a "perfect candidate" for bail and insisted any risk police had about him using social media could be "managed" with a temporary prohibition on him using such platforms.

Mr Booth further noted that Stitt had a granddaughter who was due to be born within the next 24 hours and he wished to be with his family for that event.

Bail was refused and Stitt was remanded in custody to appear again before a judge on September 20.

Police in Northern Ireland have arrested 43 people in connection with the recent disorder, with 34 having been charged to date.