STV NewsJohn Swinney has apologised to a girl from Dundee who was seen with a knife and axe in a viral video after being assaulted.
But the First Minister has insisted he would “make no apology” to Elon Musk after last year accusing the trillionaire of spreading misinformation about the incident.
A Bulgarian man was found guilty of assaulting the then 12-year-old girl during the incident last year.
Ilia Belov, 22, was also convicted of behaving in a “threatening or abusive manner” towards four girls, all of whom were aged between 12 and 14.
Belov’s sister, Nadjedzha Belova, earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of assaulting a 13-year-old girl in the incident, which happened in the Lochee area of the city in August 2025.
During a two-day trial, Dundee Sheriff Court heard the 12-year-old had been walking with a group of girls on their way to a bus stop when Belov made sexual remarks to her.
Giving evidence by video-link, the girl, who is now 13, recalled: “He kept saying, ‘come here sexy. I will show you how to have a good time’.”
She said his words made her feel “dead angry”, and she turned around and began shouting at him.
Belov then phoned his sister, who arrived shortly afterwards and began attacking a 13-year-old member of the group.
In the ensuing fracas, Belov pushed the 12-year-old, who told the court she hit her head on a metal handrail as she fell to the ground.
After standing back up, she pulled out an axe and a knife, which she said had been hidden in her waistband for five to ten minutes before the incident.
She said after revealing the weapons she was “basically sat holding them”, saying she “knew” the man would “try to go for (the other girl)”.
When the police arrived minutes later, the girl said she had dumped the weapons on a nearby roundabout, where they were later recovered by officers.
Belov and Belova are due to be sentenced on August 5.
Swinney will apologise to girl, but not Musk
Reform UK leader in Scotland Malcolm Offord raised the issue with the First Minister in Holyrood – demanding he apologise to the child and her family.
Raising the issue at First Minister’s Questions, Lord Offord said: “The mother of this child, quite rightly, has demanded an apology from the police and from the First Minister for her daughter being branded as a liar, right-wing and a racist.”
Swinney said he would “of course” apologise to the girl, as he said his comments at the time of the incident last year were based on the information he had on the case at the time.
“I of course apologise to the young woman and her family concerned,” the SNP leader said.
He added that “we all deal with the situation as the information presents”.
But Swinney insisted he would “make no apology for taking on Elon Musk”, with the First Minister saying he did not think the X owner was “an actor in good faith on these questions”.
Lord Offord said Musk had “posed the question what kind of Government arrests little girls who try to defend themselves”, but said when that happened the First Minister had “piled in, accusing him of spreading misinformation”.
Swinney, however, told him: “At the time of this particular incident, the information available to me, provided through Police Scotland, led me to the conclusion that I set out.”
Police Scotland have now admitted that their initial statement “did not fully reflect the situation.”
He went to caution Lord Offord, saying “malevolent right-wing actors have piled in on particular issues to sow division in our society” and have later been “proved to be completely incorrect” with their comments.
The SNP leader continued: “I suppose the lesson we should all draw from all of this is we should all be very, very careful about what we say, because if we’re not we’re going to fall into the trap of the right-wing, malevolent individuals who are determined to sow division in our society, and I want to have none of that in Scotland.”
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