An unrepentant Bulgarian factory worker who assaulted a 12-year-old schoolgirl after calling her 'sexy' and then lied to police by falsely claiming she had racially abused him has avoided jail.
Ilia Belov, 23, has complained that he has become 'a social pariah' in Dundee and has been abandoned by his Scottish friends, a court heard today.
The case attracted worldwide attention after Belov's 12-year-old victim was arrested and charged when police initially accepted his false claims that she had called him a 'f***ing migrant' and threatened him.
The terrified schoolgirl, from an 'ordinary family', was filmed brandishing a knife and axe by Belov, who shared the footage online and accused her of racism.
She was vilified online as police and First Minister John Swinney appeared to side with the Bulgarian national, while Elon Musk shared the video and publicly backed the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Musk had asked his 241.5million followers: 'What kind of government arrests little girls who try to defend themselves?'
It was only in June this year, 10 months after the incident, that she was finally vindicated when Belov was found guilty of assault.
Speaking outside Dundee Sheriff Court today Belov refused to apologise to the girl for his lies and the attack. He insisted that he wanted to get on with his life and look after his two children.
'I have lost many things. That girl was wearing weapons. Can you talk about that please? I will continue to go on my way and see my social worker. Please have good luck,' he said.
He added that he and his sister had been pictured laughing and 'smirking' outside court on a number of occasions because they are not used to the attention.
The court heard that Belov had followed the girl and three other children through Dundee in August last year while they were out buying cigarettes, shouting: 'Come here sexy. I will show you how to have a good time.'
When the girl stood up for herself and called him 'creepy', Belov shoved her, causing her to fall and hit her head on a metal handrail in the Lochee area of the city.
He then phoned his sister, who arrived at the scene and assaulted a 13-year-old girl. The pair later gave police a fabricated account of what had happened.
Ilia Belov, 23, and his sister, Nadjedzha Belova, 20, outside Dundee Sheriff Court earlier this year. He lied and falsely claimed that he had acted in self defence when his victim called him a 'f***ing migrant' - he and his sibling have been given community sentences
Belov filmed his victim brandishing a knife and axe at him in footage that led to her arrest and went around the world. It took ten months to have her name cleared fully after police failed to believe her
Today, Belov was sentenced to 18 months' supervision, ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work and placed on the sex offenders register for 18 months. He had been convicted following a trial earlier this year.
Belov's sister, Nadjedzha Belova, 20, previously admitted assaulting a 13-year-old girl during the same incident in Lochee in August 2025.
She was sentenced to 180 hours of unpaid work at the same hearing at Dundee Sheriff Court on Friday.
The court heard that Belov had become 'a social pariah' in the community and had been abandoned by many of his Scottish friends following the publicity surrounding the case.
It was also told that both the siblings and the victims had been negatively affected by the intense global reaction the incident generated on social media.
She told the trial: 'He kept saying 'come here sexy, I'll show you how to have a good time'. I was angry. I basically turned around and shouted at him.
'He said it like three or four times. I know he got on the phone and started ringing someone to come down. Then some lassie comes running across the road.'
Belov was placed under supervision, added to the sex offenders register for 18 months and ordered to complete the maximum 300 hours of unpaid work.
Belova was ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work, with Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith telling both siblings that their sentences were direct alternatives to custody.
Sheriff Niven-Smith told Belov: 'You have been the author of your own misfortune' by filming the child with the weapons and allowing the footage to be posted on social media.
The sheriff added: 'Your motivation in making the remarks was for sexual gratification. I am satisfied there was a significant sexual element.
'There were multiple victims of your offending and they were all children. Your conduct will have had a psychological impact on your victims.
'I do not consider you genuinely contrite or remorseful. You have externalised responsibility on to your victims. That is not a mitigating factor.'
Addressing Belova, the sheriff said: 'You attended with the intention of assaulting one or more of the girls interacting with your brother. The commission of the assault was premeditated.
'You simply arrived at speed and commenced your assault. This was an unpleasant and wholly unprovoked attack on a child.'
Defence solicitor Larry Flynn said of Belov: 'It is a rather unusual case and he has become a social pariah. His Scottish friends, of which he had many, have abandoned him.'
The victim's mother said recently that it was 'heartbreaking' that her daughter had 'told the truth from the start' but was not believed, including by Police Scotland.
The case exploded online after Elon Musk shared the viral video on X.
However, the schoolgirl was heavily criticised after First Minister John Swinney dismissed Musk's intervention as 'deliberate misinformation' and accused the billionaire of attempting to undermine community cohesion.
Police Scotland also issued a statement saying a 'Bulgarian couple' had been 'approached by youths', in a move critics said appeared to place the blame on the girls.
It was only days later, after detectives reviewed all available CCTV footage, that investigators concluded the children had been telling the truth.
When the case eventually came to court, the girl, now 13, and her sister, now 14, were described as 'impressive' and 'eloquent' witnesses and praised for the consistency and honesty of their evidence.
Outside court in June, the girls' mother said all four children had been vindicated, while Belov's lies had finally been exposed.
'They were telling the truth and they were slandered. There were too many lies at the start, so I'm glad it has all come out,' she said.
'It's been heartbreaking. They told the truth from the start but no one believed them.
'Everyone was more focused on the axe than anything else and didn't listen to what really happened. We're just a wee ordinary family. I'm just glad it's finally all sorted and we can begin to move on.'