A man who spat on a priest as an Orange Walk marched past a church has been jailed for ten months.

Bradley Wallace, 24, assaulted Father Thomas White when he was unable to get back inside St Alphonsus Church on London Road in Glasgow when hundreds of parishioners were leaving.

Police took the vestment worn by Father White at the time for forensic analysis.

Weeks later a DNA matching Wallace was found with the saliva found on the back of his vestment.

Officers also found Wallace's Facebook page with pictures of him holding up an England flat with a union jack flag in the corner, with the words "Bridgeton Loyal" on the front.

Wallace, from Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, pleaded guilty last month at Glasgow Sheriff Court to assaulting Father White on July 7, last year.

Passing sentence, sheriff Andrew Cubie told him: "How does a 24-year-old not know how to behave? You took the decision to spit on a priest.

"It is disgusting and was designed to humiliate him and others around him and this incident is motivated by religious prejudice.

"A custodial sentence is unavoidable here."

The sheriff added: "It is a travesty a clergyman is seeking safety in his own church.

"This isn't about any indifference about people celebrating their traditions, this case is about the troubling issue of sectarianism."

Procurator fiscal depute Chris Farrell said the annual Boyne Parade in Glasgow which had around 4000 participants and attracted an equal amount of spectators.

The parade was on its return route having "splintered off into different factions" who took different routes through the city.

He said: "At this time one of the factions was walking along London Road towards its junction with Kent Street.

"They were flanked by a number of police officers who took position outside of St Alphonsus Chrch, due to it being a Catholic congregation."

The court was told Father White had finished his Sunday mass and as is customary was at the front entrance to say good bye to his parishioners.

There were around 250 of them and while he stood on the pavement he could see the parade coming towards the church and tried to get back inside.

Mr Farrell added: "Due to the number of parishioners creating a bottleneck at the door he was unable to get back into the church.

"At this time the members of the public associating themselves with the parade began to sing sectarian songs and shout words Father White and the parishioners."

A large scale fight broke out at the junction between the two streets which took police away from the church.

With no officers at the church, members of the public who had been associating themselves with the parade became more volatile towards the congregation.

It was heard "a number of this group began to spit towards them" and Wallace, who was among the group, spat on Father White's back.

A man holding a twirling baton began "prodding" this in the direction of Father White but did not touch him.

Police then returned and were told of what had happened. Father White did not wan to divert resources away from the parade and said he would give a statement later.

He later gave one and police took the vestments he wore that day which were sent away for forensic analysis.

Mr Farrell said on July 9, 2018, Shettleston criminal investigation department were tasked with progressing enquiries including CCTV trawls and online enquiries.

He added that on July 23, they were informed of a DNA hit matching Wallace's profile held on the police database.

"The saliva was found on the back of Father White's vestments," he said.

"The police continued to carry out open source checks and identified a Facebook page belonging to Wallace.

"This depicted images of him holding up an England flag with a Union Jack flag in the corner with the words 'Bridgeton Loyal' emblazoned on the front, alongside other images pertaining to the 'Bridgeton Loyal Band'."

Father Thomas White said he will never forget what happened to him.

He said: "Having been made aware of the sentence that Bradley Wallace received for his part in what the Sheriff has described as a 'grotesque spectacle', I am encouraged to learn that Mr Wallace has recognised the 'unacceptable nature of his conduct'.

"I think however the conviction of one man, for one spittle does not reflect or begin to address what happened last July.

"My parishioners and I were spat at and shouted at by a mob, the memory of some of my frailest and most vulnerable parishioners fleeing their church in a state of fear and alarm is one that will abide with me for a long time.

"I have no desire for myself or my parishioners to be the focus of an issue which has a much larger context that needs addressed, and I am saddened that already there are clear signals that a new marching season has arrived, and it is back to business as usual."