A British man has been fined following multiple “vitriolic anti-gay rants” on Facebook in advance of Northern Pride, in which he said in reference to gay men, “[they] should be lined up and machine gunned, vile disgusting c**ts”.

Paul Gair, a father of three from Gateshead, posted the comments on the Chronicle’s Facebook page ahead of the pride festival celebrations, causing worry amongst event organisers who took action after becoming concerned for the safety and well-being of festival-goers.

In a statement, chair of Northern Pride Mark Nichols said, “It is very worrying when you hear people could be thinking of coming down and killing gays. If the post was about race or religion there would have been uproar”.

According to a report by Winq, Gair’s full tirade read,  “If your parents were faggots, you horrible gay c**ts wouldn’t [have] been born. Should be lined up and machine gunned, vile disgusting c**ts”.

The 42 year-old’s defence was that the messages were a mistake and that he was “having a bad day”, but the Chair of the bench Eileen Burt told, “I think everybody in court is probably disgusted by your behaviour. You have lost your good name forever. I think for me this highlights the danger of social media because people forget how many read and see comments on there”.

Gair was fined £280 and was forced to pay a £28 victim surcharge and £85 in costs.