THE FATHER of a young Celtic fan with Down’s Syndrome has blasted an “evil” message from an online troll who called his son a “m***o”.
Celtic superfan, Jay Beatty, captured the hearts of the Parkhead faithful when Hoops hero Georgios Samaras picked him up and carried him round the pitch as the team celebrated their league title in 2014.
The 12-year-old has since become an ambassador for the Glasgow club and met a host of stars such as Paolo Nutini, Lionel Messi and Scotland boss, Gordon Strachan.
But now, his father Martin, 45, is furious after Facebook user John Jardine, from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, wrote: “More of a m***o than Jay Beatty.”
The comment was made in response to a debate surrounding Rangers’ former signing policy, which meant they didn’t employ Catholic players.
Jay’s dad, Martin, later posted about the “evil message”, saying: “It is is very upsetting to see our son abused like this because of the team that he loves and his disability.
“It is just horrible. Unfortunately it is a daily occurrence now with comments and images that no parents should see but thankfully Jay will never see these.
“We are very proud of Jay and proud that our son has Down Syndrome and if it makes others feel better about themselves for mocking and abusing a 12 year old wee Bhoy, we cannot stop this but we know that for every evil message we receive, we get thousands of really heartwarming and kind messages.
“For that we are so grateful and would like to thank everyone for all their kindness shown to Jay over the last few years.”
Other Facebook users were outraged by the sickening description of Jay.
One of the club’s fansites, ‘Celtic FC to the core’, wrote: “We are absolutely delighted to have Jay as a figure of the Celtic support. He’s a very special Bhoy who does wonderful things with the Celtic foundation.”
Jamesi McLeish commented: “Jay is an inspiration to others Martin. I’m so proud of him , and it’s all down to his upbringing. You and your wife should be proud and you’re both very lucky to have a proper little gentleman and a brilliant character of a son like Jay.”
And Joe McGinniss added: “Scumbag of the highest order. Just shows that the problems with Scottish society run much deeper than just the “Old Firm”. Wee Jay is worth a million of this piece of garbage.”
Jay, of Lurgan, County Armagh, is an official ambassador of the club charity Celtic FC Foundation.
The footy mad Celtic fan is loved by players and staff at the club and even won an SPFL Goal of the Month award when he netted a half-time penalty at Hamilton last year.
Euro 2004 champions, Greece, the country where his hero Georgios Samaras was born, invited him to the World Cup in Greece, but the youngster had to decline as he was already booked to jet off on a family holiday.
