Tourette's campaigner Davidson asks to watch Scottish Baftas via video link after racial slur row

Tourette's campaigner John Davidson has asked to watch the Scottish Baftas ceremony via a video link at the venue after he shouted a racial slur during the Bafta Film Awards in February.

The movie I Swear, which tells the story of Davidson growing up with Tourette syndrome in Scotland in the 1980s, has been nominated for seven Scottish Baftas.

It scooped three prizes at the Bafta Film Awards in London in February.

But the event was overshadowed by Davidson, whose condition involves involuntary tics, shouting the N-word at presenters Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo.

The BBC later apologised for not editing out the slur from its BBC One broadcast, which was shown on a two-hour delay, and remained on BBC iPlayer until the following day.

Bafta Scotland said it had worked with safeguarding and inclusion experts to allow Davidson to take part in its forthcoming ceremony in Glasgow "in the safest way possible for all".

It said Davidson, who was awarded an MBE in 2019 for his work in raising awareness of Tourette's, had suggested watching from a separate room in the venue with his family and friends.

Davidson, from Galashiels, shouted loudly several times before and during the Bafta ceremony in February.

He later said he was "deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning".

"I have spent my life trying to support and empower the Tourette's community and to teach empathy, kindness and understanding from others and I will continue to do so," he said in a statement.

"I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing."

At the time, Bafta thanked Davidson for his "dignity and consideration of others, on what should have been a night of celebration for him".

"We take full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation and we apologise to all," it added.

"We will learn from this and keep inclusion at the core of all we do, maintaining our belief in film and storytelling as a critical conduit for compassion and empathy."

Capaldi, Carlyle and Mullan among Scottish Bafta nominees

This year's Scottish Bafta nominees include I Swear stars Peter Mullan, Robert Aramayo, Scott Ellis Watson and Shirley Henderson.

In the Actor Television category, Dougray Scott is nominated for Summerwater, Jack Lowden for Slow Horses, Peter Capaldi for Criminal Record and Robert Carlyle for The Hack.

There are also three nominations each for the Netflix crime drama Dept Q and BBC comedy Dinosaur while Dept Q's Leah Byrne also received an Audience Award nomination.

The winners will be announced on 15 November at a ceremony in Glasgow hosted by broadcaster Edith Bowman.