A man has appeared in court charged with posting a message on Twitter threatening to kill first minister Alex Salmond.

Christopher Stevenson, 25, is accused of making the comment saying "think I might assassinate Alex Salmond" on January 28.

He is alleged to have behaved in a "threatening or abusive manner which was likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm".

Stevenson, from Glasgow's east end, was arrested and taken to London Road police office before appearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court from custody and entering a not guilty plea.

A trial - which will take place before a sheriff only - was set for August this year, only weeks before the Scottish independence referendum is to take place.

Stevenson was released from custody and ordered to appear on the next occasion by Sheriff Norman Ritchie QC on the next occasion.

On Stevenson's Twitter page @ChrisTastic he appears to have since posted a number of tweets about the alleged comment. These include "Feel I've upset the Yes campaigners, they want me to go to jail for that tweet last night" and "Ridiculous that even a joke makes you a criminal".

The Twitter page is now private and tweets are no longer public.