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A racism row politician has been accused of chasing a six-year-old girl with air freshener after telling her she “smelled like curry”.

The allegation against Labour councillor Jim Dempster – which he denies – is now being investigated after it was included in a dossier sent to party leader Richard Leonard yesterday.

Dempster was suspended by Labour last week after claiming Transport Minister Humza Yousaf can’t be seen “under the burka”.

The councillor is now facing new claims that he taunted a six-year-old Muslim girl by calling her a “chocolate monkey”.

(Image: REUTERS)

Dempster is said to have made the remarks when he ran a shop in his home village.

The dossier sent to Leonard, seen by the Record, also alleges that he bizarrely called a young Muslim boy “Jew boy” because he knew he would be circumcised.

The allegations were made by a brother and sister who grew up in the late 80s and early 90s as one of the only ethnic minority families living in Sanquhar, where ­Dempster owned the local newsagents.

Last night, Dempster strongly denied the claims after being contacted by the Daily Record.

He said: “I have received your email at 15.34 of 21st March 2018.

“The allegations in your email are totally untrue. There is no substance at all in the allegations.

“A repetition of these allegations in your newspaper may lead to court proceedings.”

The Record has spoken to the family – who are of Scottish Pakistani heritage – and confirmed their identity. We are protecting their anonymity.

Dempster’s alleged racist behaviour is said to have started from when the family moved to Sanquhar.

The sister said in her complaint: “When I was aged six or seven, Councillor Dempster chased me around his shop with an air freshener, saying I smelled of curry.

“He was often verbally racist, calling me many names over a period of 10 years.

“One of the racist insults I vividly remember him calling me is ­‘chocolate monkey’.

“The distress he caused me made me anxious to the extent that I would avoid going to the shop when he was there.

“In addition, in his role as a volunteer firefighter, I would see him at local Gala Days – only increasing my anxiety.”

(Image: Dumfries and Galloway Standard)

The brother, who is a few years older than his sister, also claims to have suffered racist abuse at the hands of Dempster.

He said: “I endured 10 years of hell at the hands of Councillor Jim Dempster.

“He would often pick on me whenever I went into his shop. He would target me by calling me names.

“I was often referred to as a Paki by Councillor Dempster. He would also call me ‘Jew boy’ because he knew as a Muslim I was circumcised, just as a Jewish person would have been.

“The racism I received from Jim has haunted me my whole life. I tried to suppress it but I now feel I have to speak out.”

Dempster was suspended by Labour last week after the Record revealed he had claimed you can’t see Transport Minister Yousaf “under the burka”.

The hate-filled comment was made to shocked Government officials during a meeting about roads.

Dempster later said sorry and ­subsequently visited his local mosque to beg for forgiveness.

In a statement at the time, he said: “I had the honour of meeting with the imam at the mosque in Dumfries to seek his views.

“The imam has kindly invited me to address the mosque and work with members of the Muslim community.

“This will allow me to learn more about the issues facing ethnic ­minorities, especially in Dumfries and Galloway, and how the use of everyday language may affect them, and this will also give me the opportunity to reflect on and challenge and change my ­behaviour.

“I understand the hurt and offence such comments cause and have requested additional diversity and awareness training to be arranged for me.

(Image: Jim McEwan)

“I cannot change the comments made but I am committed to taking responsibility for my actions and playing my part in challenging ­discrimination wherever it is displayed.”

The latest claims could cause a major problem for Dumfries and Galloway council leader Elaine Murray.

The former MSP launched a staunch defence of Dempster last week, insisting his comments about Yousaf were made in anger over “the plight of the A76… which affects his constituents on a daily basis”.

She also suggested the councillor couldn’t be racist because he had supported Anas Sarwar in last year’s Scottish Labour leadership contest.

The brother making the allegations is a friend of Sarwar. The pair met years ago after the family moved from Sanquhar to Glasgow.

The brother contacted both Sarwar and Yousaf to reveal his personal ­experiences of Dempster after reading about him in the Record last week.

(Image: PA)

Sarwar said: “This is a respectable family who are well known to me personally and I have no reason to believe that they would lie.

"I will now be speaking to the party about these horrific allegations.”

Yousaf last night repeated his call for Dempster to quit as a councillor.

He said: “The latest allegations of racism involving Jim Dempster are extremely concerning.

“They point towards a sustained campaign of racial hatred directed towards children from a person in a position of responsibility.

“I would urge all victims of hatred to come forward and have their voices heard and their stories told. No one should get away with abusing people, let alone children, in this way.

“Jim Dempster has been spending the last few days taking part in staged photo ops in an attempt to save his career.

“Instead, he should apologise to the multiple victims of his racial prejudice who claim to have been abused by him over a number of years.

(Image: Jim McEwan/media Scotland)

"Jim Dempster must realise his position is completely untenable and he must now resign, with immediate effect.”

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “James Dempster has been suspended by the Scottish Labour Party and an investigation is ongoing. The party has a zero tolerance policy towards racism.”

The controversy comes amid increasing concern about Islamophobia in Scotland.

It’s the latest row to rock Labour after MP Hugh Gaffney apologised for remarks about Chinese and gay people.