A 44-second video of a young Scottish girl in Dundee, tartaned up and brandishing a knife and an axe, fending off the immigrant hordes has, thanks to Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson, gone ‘viral’.
The incident that sparked this meme, and the resultant non conversation, is a salutary warning to both church and society, that we need to be careful before commenting on people and incidents that we do not know. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
She was called ‘the girl with no name’ – although she does have a name. In the mythical version, which is as fake as the AI generated meme of her, she is called ‘Sophie from Dundee’. Some of those who believe this narrative have contributed to a crowdfunder which has raised over £62,000 for the girl. They see her as representative of the tens of thousands of girls in the UK, often working-class white girls, who have been abused and not listened to.
What about the man who is being accused on social media? Is he ‘the immigrant with no name’? No, he too has a name. He is reportedly a 21-year-old Bulgarian, married with a young baby, who has been in this country for four years. Contrary to some claims, they are not illegal immigrants. Furthermore, the police have confirmed that CCTV footage of the area shows that he committed no crime. In an interview with The Daily Mail, he claims he was on his way to the shops when the young girls confronted them.
Chief Superintendent Nicola Russell made the following statement: “We are aware of misinformation being shared on social media in relation to an incident where a Bulgarian couple were approached by youths in St Ann Lane on Saturday August 23. A 12-year-old girl has been charged with being in possession of offensive weapons. She will be referred to the relevant authorities, and our inquiries are ongoing. We would like to thank the local community for their help with our investigation. We would urge the public not to share misinformation about this incident or speculate on the circumstances.”
Despite this plea there continues to be claim and counter-claim.
Here in Australia more than one Christian commentator has picked up on the story and spoken as though the video was self-evidently true. They rightly speak in sympathy for the thousands of girls who have not been heard.
But when you take one particular case you had better make sure that you know what you are talking about – and follow the advice of the police not to speculate, especially if that speculation is based on one short video and a few tweets from well-known people. The danger is that if it turns out that the man and his wife were the victims then you end up doing great harm, not only to them, but to the other real victims you are seeking to help, whose oppressors can just claim they are yet another example of people crying wolf.
Unlike most of the people pontificating about it in other countries I feel a little more qualified to comment. I ministered in Dundee for 27 years. I know the Lochee area - and even the roundabout where the incident occurred - very well. I have family who are planting a church in the neighbouring housing scheme and often deal with teenagers like these young girls.
During my time in Dundee, I was assaulted twice by teenagers and drug addicts. Not far from where this incident occurred, I once visited a home, where there was a queue outside a door across the street. It was a queue of teenagers from the local school collecting their drugs.
Another time a church we planted was not able to meet one Sunday because a man had been macheted to death on the doorstep. I have no difficulty in believing that teenage girls would be carrying weapons.
Dundee has the highest rate of child protection orders in Scotland. At one point when I was there, I was told by a social worker that there were 1,500 children in care. When I expressed shock at such a high number in a city of only 140,000, she responded that if they had the facilities, it would be double that number. Dundee has the highest national incidence of domestic abuse and the highest drugs death rate in Europe (along with Glasgow).
The 2024 Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership report stated: “A significant proportion of the difference in life expectancy between Dundee and many other Partnerships can be accounted for by deaths at a young age from drugs, alcohol and suicide. Drug and alcohol use disproportionately affects the most vulnerable and socioeconomically deprived people in Dundee’s communities and is associated with other health and social problems, including poor mental health, crime, domestic abuse and child neglect and abuse. Drug and alcohol use is recognised both at a national and local level as a major public health and health equity issue.”
Which is why the only response I can have to this incident is to say that ‘I don’t know’. I don’t know what happened, or why it happened. And neither does anyone else, other than those who were there. This is why we have police. We leave them to find out.
We do not determine issues, or make judgements, based on our political persuasions, romantic notions or internet algorithms.
Those who are in positions of power, whether former Scottish first ministers, or social media owners, need to be careful not to misuse that power – and fuel speculation and the blaming of the other. It’s a game that Christians should refuse to play.
Actually, that is not the only response I can or should have. I love the city of Dundee and its people. I am furious at the neglect of the poor, and the effect that the self-styled progressive policies of the political and civic elites have had upon the most marginalised. The breakdown of much family life, the lack of meaningful jobs, the destruction of the work ethic, the drug and alcohol epidemic, the transformation of education into social indoctrination, are far more to blame than any immigrant influx to the city.
The teenage ‘hooligans’ are the result, not the cause of this deprivation. The rejection of Christianity in particular has turned a city that was once known as ‘the Geneva of the North’ into a spiritual desert.
And yet all is not lost. Within Babylon there are those who have not bowed the knee to Baal. There are a few faithful churches which continue to shine like ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation as they shine like the stars in the sky, holding firmly to the word of life’ (Philippians 2:15-16).
Christians, rather than sending money to knife wielding teenagers, would do better to support those of their brothers and sisters who minister in these communities. One organisation which I know to a particular vision and ministry for the poor in Scotland is Twenty Schemes, which has been successfully planting churches in the urban deprived areas of Scotland – including the Lochee and Charleston areas of Dundee.
The Christians involved in these churches are seeking to come alongside, live with, help and proclaim the light of Christ in the darkness. You may not get a lot of publicity out of such work, and the memes won’t be so spectacular, but these brothers and sisters are the real Bravehearts in Dundee today.
They don’t wield knives. They don’t tweet memes. They speak The Life. They wield the sword of the word of God, which wounds only to heal. It’s a scalpel for healing, not a knife for killing. We should stand with them, and remember our brothers and sisters in need. The Lord has sent revival to Dundee at several points in its history. May He do so again.
David Robertson is the former minister of St Peters Free Church in Dundee. He is currently the minister of Scots Kirk Presbyterian Church in Newcastle, New South Wales, and blogs at The Wee Flea.
