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Boy (14) arrested over offensive comments about Down Syndrome Celtic fan

Lurgan boy 9 year old Jay Beatty pictured with former Celtic star Georgios Samaras Pic Russell.
Lurgan boy 9 year old Jay Beatty pictured with former Celtic star Georgios Samaras Pic Russell. Lurgan boy 9 year old Jay Beatty pictured with former Celtic star Georgios Samaras Pic Russell.

A teenage boy has been arrested over an alleged offensive social media post about a young Celtic fan with Down's syndrome.

Jay Beatty, 11, who comes from Lurgan, Co Armagh, is popular among the Celtic support and shot to fame when former player Georgios Samaras picked him out of the crowd during Celtic's title-winning lap of honour last season.

He won Scottish football's goal of the month award in January in a public vote for a penalty he scored during half-time in Celtic's 2-0 win over Hamilton.

He also recently met Paolo Nutini and spent time with the singer before he performed in Glasgow last month.

Police Scotland said offensive comments about the 11-year-old were allegedly posted on social media on Friday.

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested over the incident and a report is to be sent to the Children's Reporter.

A police spokesman said: "A 14-year-old-boy has been arrested in connection with this incident. A report will be submitted to the Children''s Reporter.

"Police Scotland will not tolerate hate crime in any form."