Danny Meikle, 57, a Labour councillor in Lanarkshire, was convicted by Lanark Sheriff Court of acting in a racially aggravated manner by repeatedly addressing Tecwyn Thomas, a recent immigrant to southern Scotland, as “Boyo”.

Mr Thomas, who moved into the nearby village of Douglas three years ago, decided to consult his local councillor after hearing reports that the area was to be used as a dumping ground for hundreds of tonnes of English waste.

He expected a sympathetic hearing from Councillor Meikle, who is well known in the area as the county’s most high-profile Father Christmas. He covers his house in the village of Coalburn with thousands of fairylights and dons a Santa costume to entertain children and raise money for charity. Visitors flock to see the display.

But what Mr Thomas got was a string of foul-mouthed racist abuse, the court was told.

Relating his meeting with Meikle, Mr Thomas told the court: “I asked him about some letters he hadn’t replied to. His response was a torrent of foul language. He said, ‘I wouldn’t answer any of your f***ing letters, boyo.’ He emphasised the ‘boyo’.”

Mr Thomas continued: “He told me to f*** off out of his surgery, and stuck his face up to my face. He then said, ‘You don’t f***ing worry me, boy, and you don’t f***ing frighten me, boyo.’ I was dumbfounded. I’ve dealt with councillors over a number of years and I’ve never encountered anything like that.”

Stephen McBride, representing Meikle, drew a comparison with John Hartson, Celtic’s Welsh striker, who is widely known to fans as “Bhoyo”. The lawyer held up a newspaper sports page article with the headline “Home Bhoyo” and challenged Mr Thomas to find it racist.

“No, it’s not the word itself; it’s the way it’s used,” Mr Thomas told the court.

Meikle said in evidence that he used the word “boyo” all the time and denied that it was racist. He said that swearing was a normal feature of his conversation, and that when Mr Thomas and a friend had come to see him about the English waste, they had refused to leave.

“I knew he was Welsh. I’ve never been a racist or slated anyone because of their language. But they wouldn’t leave. I asked them on two occasions but they wouldn’t leave. So I asked them to f*** off.”

They still would not leave, so Meikle said to them: “What word did you not understand: the ‘f***’ or the ‘off boyo?’” Sheriff Petra Collins said: “This is a serious matter. I am satisfied the comments used by Mr Meikle were about Mr Thomas. And I accept that they were intended to antagonise.”

Outside the court Meikle dismissed his conviction as “nonsense”, but admitted that he might have to step down as a councillor. South Lankarkshire Council refused to comment on the conviction, insisting that it was not a council matter.

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