A SCOTTISH newspaper editor has been charged over a “potentially racially inflamatory” article in which he suggested that immigration centres turned neighbouring communities into “cesspools” where murder, rape and robbery were common. Alan Buchan, 46, a former fisherman who edits the Peterhead-based North East Weekly, confirmed yesterday that he had been charged by police under Section 19 of the Public Order Act 1968 after a complaint.

In a front-page article, which was published in June under the headline “Perverts & Refugees”, Mr Buchan responded to Scottish Executive plans to close Aberdeen’s Craiginches prison and to construct a new “superprison” in Peterhead. The paper claimed that the site could be turned into an “immigration centre” for more than 5,000 refugees.

He wrote: “The people of rural England have been in massive rebellion over the establishment of refugee centres holding upwards of 5,000 immigrants because they were fully aware that their communities would be swamped and turned into cesspools. The reason that the people of rural England have rejected this is that they know their communities would be turned into ghettos where murder, rape, robbery, assault, break-ins and numerous other crimes become prevalent.”

Yesterday he claimed there “isn’t a racist word in the article. We’re surprised by police action in this matter.”

Yesterday a spokesman for Grampian Police confirmed that after a complaint about a “potentially racially inflamatory” article in the North East Weekly, police had been making inquiries. “A man has been charged in connection with the inquiry and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.” Mr Buchan is due to appear in court on September 1.

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