A sheriff has published his reasons behind refusing an appeal by Loyalist groups after Glasgow City Council ordered them to re-route their marches.

The Apprentice Boys of Derry Bridgeton had intended to march through Glasgow's east end on June 1 this year as part of their annual Orange Order parades.

However, after concerns from Police Scotland, the council took the decision to re-route the procession away from two Catholic Churches.

One of those on the route, St Alphonsus Church on London Road, was in the news the previous year after the priest, Canon Thomas White, was spat on outside during a similar march in July 2018.

The man responsible, Bradley Wallace from Uddingston, was jailed for ten months. 

Another parade that passed the church in May this year saw chants of "Fenian b******s" and "paedo" emerging from the supporters of the group. 

Glasgow Times: Canon Thomas White was spat on outside his churchCanon Thomas White was spat on outside his church

READ MORE: Apprentice Boys of Derry lose court bid to route parade past spit attack St Alphonsus' church

Four Loyalist groups launched a court battle in an attempt to overturn the council's decision, citing Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights - which is the right to freedom of assembly and association as detailed in the European Convention on Human Rights.

However, as we reported in May, the sheriff dismissed the appeals, ruling that the council's reasons were "reasonable and rational, with a suffieicent factual foundation". 

In his written judgement only just now released, Sheriff Reid said that, based on the submission by Police Scotland, the Glasgow City Council "reasonably concluded" that the route of the march past the churches "would have the likely effect of causing disruption of the life of the community, due to an apprehended risk of violent criminality or disorder aggravated by religious prejudice".

The sheriff added "the burden on police resources to keep the peace on that original route was excessive, based on the information, events and intelligence referred to in the chief constable’s submission".

He continued: “The spitting on a priest, shouts of ‘Fenian b******s’, all occurring on the steps of a Catholic church, is serious criminality aggravated by religious prejudice which, viewed in context, can properly be considered to be divisive of social cohesion and community harmony.

“Accordingly, in my judgment, in issuing its order to re-route the pursuer’s march, the defender [Glasgow City Council] did not fall into error, it did not exercise its discretion in an unreasonable manner, and it did not otherwise act beyond its powers.

"For these reasons, I dismissed the application."