Falkirk anti-immigration protest organiser Connor Graham fined for threatening police officer

Connor Graham, 28, organiser of the group Save Our Futures & Our Kids Futures (SOF) which he later disbanded, admitting swearing and abusing a police officer outside the Hotel Cladhan in Falkirk’s Kemper Avenue on December 6 last year.

The hotel has been used by the Home Office for several years to house asylum seekers.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard today that Graham, a roofer, “lost his temper” after protestors from SOF were kept back from the hotel by a police cordon.

Prosecutor Karen Chambers told the court the incident occurred around 1pm.

She told the court: “The accused approached the police officer and appeared to be trying to pass through a gap.

“Mr Graham became aggressive and shouted: ‘F*** off and stop pushing me.'”

Ms Chambers said Graham made a disablist insult towards the officer.

Graham was not arrested at the time, but attended Falkirk Police Station a few days later after becoming aware police wanted him.

He pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards the officer in an offence that was “aggravated by prejudice relating to disability”.

He told police: “My hands are up, I'm guilty of that. I know it happened, ultimately I shouldn't have done it.”

Graham, a father-of-two of Stenhousemuir, appeared for sentence after pleading guilty in January to statutory breach of the peace.

Solicitor Simon Hutchison, defending, said Graham had started the protests in the summer of 2025.

He said: “He had sincerely held beliefs in relation to deficiencies in community safety and most importantly problems caused by unchecked immigration and crimes caused by some of these people.

“He helped by peaceful protests to bring these concerns to the public.”

Mr Hutchison said Graham disbanded the protest group after the Cladhan protests were “hijacked by the far right”.

The solicitor added: “It had got to a stage where his personal safety was compromised and he was having verbal attacks on him and his family.

“These protests had been peaceful for months.”

Mr Hutchison said Graham had “stupidly lost his temper” after the police officer pushed him back.

He said: “He is very, very sorry.”

The prosecution accepted Graham's plea of not guilty to an allegation of attempting to incite violence.

The court heard Graham had long record of previous convictions – including for dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.

Imposing the £540 fine, Sheriff William Gilchrist told Graham: “It's somewhat ironic that your claimed motivation for being there was concern about public safety – the irony being that you have a very extensive record yourself.

“It's you who seem to be a risk to the local community, rather than individuals residing in this hotel.”

Speaking after he was sentenced, Graham said: “If anybody commits a crime they should be able to deal with the punishment. I did make a mistake on that day by calling the officer what I called him.”

SOF began weekly protests outside the Hotel Cladhan in August last year after a migrant was convicting of raping a teenage girl.

In January the group announced it would no longer attend any Hotel Cladhan protests.

In a message on its Facebook page, the group said all future demonstrations “organised or attended under SOF” have been cancelled after they attracted “genuinely racist groups”.