A GAY man who was rejected after a first date by a man he met on the internet retaliated by sending racist and homophobic letters about him to his local chip shop.
Alan Wiseman, 59, arranged to meet the man near his home in Edinburgh after they got in contact through the Gaydar website.
Wiseman had claimed to be aged 35 in his online profile, and the man had cut the date short when he realised Wiseman was mu
ch older.
A month later Wiseman sent anonymous letters to the man's flatmate and to a chip shop in the Stockbridge area of the city.
Wiseman was traced via details he had entered on the website when sending a series of offensive e-mails to his victim.
When police searched his home they found two canisters of CS gas and two cans of pepper spray in a cupboard.
Wiseman, of Melgund Terrace, Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to committing racially aggravated breach of the peace at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today.
He also admitted possessing two canisters of CS gas and two cans of pepper spray at his home and will be sentenced next month.
Fiscal depute Sally Clark said the man had been "surprised" to find Wiseman was much older than he claimed when they met up in Edinburgh following conversations online.
The man had invited Wiseman to his flat in Raeburn Place for coffee to avoid seeming rude, but later asked Wiseman to leave when he stood in the living room and refused a drink.
A month later a letter arrived at the man's flat, addressed to his flatmate.
Ms Clark said the letters had contained "language of an extremely graphic sexual nature" and "highly offensive pornographic material" directed at the man, which had left him "shocked and upset".
Days later, Wiseman sent a similar letter to the nearby L'Aquila Bianca chip shop in Raeburn Place before e-mailing his victim.
His home was searched two months later, and he told police he had brought the CS gas and pepper spray in from Canada and Romania.
Wiseman pled guilty to a racially aggravated breach of the peace by sending postal or electronic communications to two addresses in Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, and sending grossly offensive and obscene letters and e-mails to three men containing indecent, homophobic and racist material and threats of violence to one of them.
He also admitted possessing two canisters of CS gas and two cans of pepper spray at his home, under the Firearms Act.
David Blair-Wilson, defending, said Wiseman suffered a heart condition and had been under a lot of pressure at the time of the offences.
The full article contains 447 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
