Jim Murphy hits out at online trolls over Clutha fund

Jim Murphy has slammed sick online trolls who claimed he cashed in on the Clutha helicopter tragedy.

The Scottish Labour leader used his Twitter account to reveal he had been targeted by independence supporters with false claims that he had accepted £1,000 from the Clutha Appeal fund for “pain and distress”.

Mr Murphy was driving past the Glasgow pub minutes after the crash happened and rushed to the aid of those hurt.

But he has never spoken of his role in the aftermath of the accident since that night and blasted the trolls for suggesting he had applied for cash to compensate himself for his distress. He said: “Some Twitter insults are too pathetic, deceitful and hurtful to ignore. This is one of them. It is a complete lie.

1/3 Some twitter insults are too pathetic, deceitful & hurtful to ignore. This is one of them.
It is a complete lie. pic.twitter.com/agDAwDE5Kk

— Jim Murphy (@glasgowmurphy) February 14, 2015

“I totally accept some people don’t like my politics. That’s a healthy democracy. But please think before retweeting these sorts of pathetic lies. The money raised was for the injured and families of the deceased.”

A Twitter member called Ian Barr, who describes himself as being from Glasgow and an independence supporter, stated yesterday: “Interesting bit of information, Jim Murphy took money from the Clutha Fund”.

Another Twitter member, Scott Gillan, who says he is a Yes Supporter, then sent a message to the Labour leader, asking, “Jim, can you confirm you accepted £1,000 from the Clutha disaster fund?”.

The comments enraged Mr Murphy who took to the popular social media platform to hit back at his online critics.

Amazingly, despite his strong rejection of the smears, Mr Gillan later took to Twitter again to justify his question.

He said: “I heard from a very good source and was obviously disgusted, I felt I had to ask Jim directly and did so at lunchtime.

“I meant no offence but I felt the question would be promptly answered. At all times I maintained it was a question.”

The Clutha Appeal Fund was established by Glasgow’s Lord Provost Sadie Docherty to support people affected by the tragic incident at the Clutha Vaults.

Crucially, it was only available to casualties and the families of those who lost their lives.

The furore was quickly seized upon by Scottish Labour supporters who called on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to intervene.

Hugh Henry, the party’s Shadow cabinet Secretary for Justice, said: “Will Nicola Sturgeon take action? Does she condone Clutha lie about Jim Murphy?”

Just weeks after the Clutha tragedy Mr Murphy hit out at “CyberNat trolls” who he claimed attacked him online with a “bucket load of personal bile” for arguing against independence.

Mr Murphy shared some of the examples of the abuse he received.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman last night confirmed none of the dozens of people who helped victims after the tragedy approached the fund for a payout.