THE victim of a campaign of menacing, homophobic abuse later killed himself, a court heard.

Scott McIntosh was devastated after being targeted by former schoolmate Kevin Edgar.

After coming out as gay, Scott, a deep sea diver from Aberdeen, endured a series of hateful calls from Edgar, an oil rig worker, and, friends say, he slid into depression.

After struggling with mental health issues, Scott, 28, took his own life.

On Wednesday, Edgar, 29, admitted a charge of making obscene phone calls, aggravated by prejudice relating to sexual orientation.

A source close to Scott said he had suffered terribly from months of abuse and that, while the calls had happened 20 months before his suicide, they had been a factor in plunging him into depression.

He said: “Scott did suffer. These homophobic emails and calls had a devastating impact on Scott’s mental health. Ultimately I would say they did contribute to his suicide.”

His family have declined to comment but campaigners have called for more help for those suffering mental health issues and a crackdown on hate crimes.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard last week how Edgar had known Scott since school. In August last year, when he was on trips to England and Glasgow, Scott received a number of anonymous calls but recognised Edgar’s voice.

Now his friends want to see more effective mental health intervention.

One said: “If you stand on a nail and you go to accident and emergency, they will see you and treat you for that minor injury. But we are lacking a place for people who feel so down at a specific moment in time that they want to take their own lives. There should be somewhere you can walk in and get that immediate help. People are suffering and young males especially don’t want to communicate because they see it as a weakness. There’s a stigma. We have to break those barriers down.” Read more via Sunday Post