Man charged with data protection offence after referee’s personal information leaked online
John Beaton awarded Celtic a late penalty on Wednesday (PA)
A 19-year-old man has been charged with a data protection offence after Scottish referee John Beaton’s personal details were leaked online.
The leak occurred following a controversial penalty decision Beaton made during Celtic’s 3-2 victory over Motherwell, which allowed Celtic to narrow the gap on league leaders Hearts.
As a result of the online leak, Beaton and his family were placed under police surveillance by Police Scotland.
The Scottish Football Association (SFA) strongly condemned the actions, linking them to a broader issue of hostility and ‘vigilantism’ against match officials.
The SFA announced plans to strengthen rules to better protect officials, attributing the unsafe environment to a ‘hysterical media narrative’ and ‘irresponsible knee-jerk post-match media interviews’.
