A HARD-HITTING poster campaign is being launched on trains to warn passengers about the penalties for being caught using sectarian language.
The joint initiative between British Transport Police (BTP) and the anti-bigotry charity Nil By Mouth is targeted at football fans, with a number of sectarian incidents on trains and at railway stations already since the season started last month.
The posters depict a railway map with tracks leading to the locations of Scottish prisons, with a message reminding passengers that anyone caught chanting sectarian songs or abusive language could face a five-year prison sentence.
The campaign is aimed at football supporters using Glasgow-Edinburgh and Glasgow-Aberdeen services. BTP said it had so far arrested a 26-year-old man following an alleged sectarian incident at Glasgow Central station on August 10, and inquiries are ongoing after the report of supporters singing songs of a sectarian nature at Glasgow Queen Street station the same day.
A group of supporters who sang sectarian songs on a train travelling between Cumbernauld and Glasgow Queen Street on Tuesday, August 27, is also being sought. Chief Superintendent Ellie Bird, area commander for the Scotland area BTP, said: "It would appear supporters are still prepared to indulge in this unsavoury and unacceptable behaviour.
"The thinking behind this campaign is to underline how serious Nil by Mouth, British Transport Police and its rail industry partners take the sectarianism.
"We are grateful for the assistance of ScotRail in donating the on-train poster spaces."
Nil By Mouth campaign director Dave Scott, added: "We are delighted with the commitment shown by the Transport Police to tackling sectarian behaviour on the rail network.
"This campaign will be a stark reminder to people that if they are chanting sectarian abuse, songs or slogans on trains they are breaking the law and could face prosecution."
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