A 12-year-old girl who was arrested and charged after police accepted a Bulgarian man’s account of an altercation has now been cleared in the court of public opinion, after the man was convicted of assaulting her.
The girl, who had been accused of calling Ilia Belov a “f***ing migrant” and threatening him, was filmed holding a knife and an axe in footage Belov later posted online. But the court heard that the video came after Belov had allegedly called the child “sexy” and then attacked her.
Her mother said the outcome confirmed what the family had maintained all along: that the girl had been telling the truth from the beginning. She said no one, including Police Scotland, had believed her daughter’s version of events.
“It’s been heartbreaking,” the mother said following Belov’s convictions for assault and threatening behaviour at Dundee Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
The case also involved Belov’s sister, 20-year-old Nadjedzha Belova, who had already admitted assaulting the victim’s 13-year-old sister. She pleaded guilty to pulling the teenager to the ground by her hair and striking her on the head.
The incident has drawn wider attention amid concerns about cases in which police are accused of acting on false accounts. It comes after the killing of Henry Nowak in Southampton, who was arrested and handcuffed as he died after officers were said to have believed claims made by Sikh killer Vickrum Digwa.
Digwa stabbed Mr Nowak six times with an eight-inch ceremonial sword and then falsely claimed the 18-year-old student had racially abused him.
Ilia Belov, 22, had followed his 12-year-old victim and three other girls through Dundee last August, yelling at her: ‘Come here sexy. I will show you how to have a good time.’
When she stood up for herself and called him ‘creepy’, Belov shoved her, causing her to hit her head on a metal handrail as she fell to the ground in the Lochee area of the city. He phoned his sister who then turned up and beat up a 13-year-old.
Belov filmed the 12-year-old brandishing a knife and axe at him in footage that led to her arrest. The viral video was shared on X by Elon Musk who said: ‘What kind of government arrests little girls who try to defend themselves?’
But the schoolgirl was vilified when First Minister John Swinney condemned Musk’s defence as ‘deliberate misinformation’ and the SNP leader accused the billionaire of trying to ‘undermine’ community cohesion.
Police Scotland released a statement saying a ‘Bulgarian couple’ had been ‘approached by youths’ as the authorities appeared to pin the blame on her.
Yesterday the girl, now 13, and her sister, now 14, were called ‘impressive’ and ‘eloquent’ witnesses as they were praised for telling the truth.
Belov claimed he had acted in self-defence and alleged the girl called him ‘a f***ing migrant’ when he walked past to buy cigarettes. In fact he called her ‘sexy’ and pushed her over.
His evidence was dismissed as ‘wholly unconvincing… revisionist and self-serving’ by Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith after he was found guilty of assaulting the 12-year-old. He was also convicted of behaving in a ‘threatening or abusive manner’ towards four girls aged between 12 and 14.
Ilia Belov, 22, and his sister, Nadjedzha Belova, 20, outside Dundee Sheriff Court. He lied and falsely claimed that he had acted in self defence when his victim called him a ‘f***ing migrant’ and pulled weapons on him. In fact he made lewd comments and assaulted her
Belov filmed his victim brandishing a knife and axe at him in footage that led to her arrest and went around the world
Outside court yesterday, the girls’ mother said all four children had been vindicated for telling the truth while Belov’s lies had 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 are just a wee ordinary family. I’m just glad it’s finally all sorted and we can begin to move on.’
Belov had attacked the girl and filmed her brandishing an axe and knife in footage that later led to her arrest.
He had lied to police and said that he had acted in self-defence. He falsely claimed the incident began when the girls abused him as he walked past because he was foreign.
In fact he had started it when he made sexual comments to the children.
He said he feared for his life when the 12-year-old pulled an axe and knife from her waistband.
But Belov did not call police. Instead he phoned his sister, Nadjedzha, who ran to the scene and began attacking the victim’s 13-year-old sister, dragging her to the ground by her hair and striking her on the head.
The 12-year-old insisted she pulled the weapons to protect herself and claimed she ‘knew’ the man would also ‘try to go’ for her sister and friends.
The video, filmed by Belov in the Lochee area of Dundee in August 2025, was later shared on X by Elon Musk.
‘I’m a 12-year-old. I’m 12. You’re battering kids. You’re f***ing kid bashers’, she had said.
While another girl, believed to be her sister, yelled: ‘Get away from us. She’s f***ing 12 and you’ve just battered me’.
‘That’s it. That’s it. Show the knife’, Belov said back repeatedly.
Mr Musk posted the footage and defended her.
But the child was subsequently vilified after Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney accused the billionaire of spreading ‘deliberate misinformation’ and risking prejudice to the case.
Police Scotland also warned the public against spreading misinformation, stating that the incident involved a ‘Bulgarian couple’ being ‘approached by youths’.
Backing the police response, Swinney said: ‘People like Elon Musk, with the misinformation that has been stoked up about this case, are trying to undermine that sense of cohesion within our communities and it is totally and utterly unacceptable. Police Scotland are absolutely right to call it out.’
It was only days later, after detectives reviewed all CCTV footage, that investigators concluded the girls had been telling the truth.
The Bulgarian siblings were subsequently charged and both now convicted.
She told police that she was defending herself and her friends and her mother said she told the truth from the start but wasn’t believed
Elon Musk was accused by the authorities and politicians in Scotland of spreading misinformation about the incident with this tweet
Police have admitted information released about the incident at the time ‘did not fully reflect the situation’. At the time they released this statement saying the girls had approached a ‘Bulgarian couple’. The court found it was the other way around
Following the case at Dundee Sheriff Court on Thursday, Police Scotland admitted that information initially released ‘did not fully reflect the situation’.
However, no apology was issued to the girl and her sister, who were praised by Sheriff Niven-Smith.
Belov was found guilty of assaulting the 12-year-old. He was also convicted of causing fear or alarm by making sexual remarks to a 12-year-old girl, two 13-year-olds, and a 14-year-old, while approaching and following them.
Belova admitted assaulting a 13-year-old by repeatedly grabbing and pulling her hair, dragging her to the ground, and punching her on the head.
The 22-year-old filmed the child after she pulled out an axe and knife and brandished them during the confrontation in Lochee on August 23 last year.
He moaned that he had lost his job in a factory as a result of the case.
But Sheriff Niven-Smith rejected his evidence as unreliable.
He said he found Belov’s evidence ‘revisionist and self-serving’ as he deferred sentencing for background reports until August.
He added: ‘I am entirely satisfied that the trigger for all this were the comments you made. I am entirely satisfied that you assaulted her.
‘Having made the sexual comments to the children you were enraged by the fact they became angry and started shouting abuse. You followed them.
‘There was an opportunity to calm down, collect your thoughts and leave the area. You chose not to do so.
‘Rather than take the phone out of your pocket and summon the assistance of the police you contacted your younger sister.’
Ilia Belov, 22, and his sister Nadjedzha Belova leaving Dundee Sheriff Court after being convicted of behaving in a ‘threatening or abusive manner’ towards four girls aged between 12 and 14 during an incident in Dundee last year. They will be sentenced in August
The sheriff will also consider whether Belov should be placed on the sex offenders register at sentencing in August.
Belov claimed the confrontation began after one of the girls called him ‘a f****** migrant’ as he walked past.
He said he turned around to ask why she felt the need to ‘disrespect’ him.
Belov claimed he ‘felt in danger’ after seeing the knife under the girl’s T-shirt and phoned his sister.
He told the court: ‘After my sister grabbed one of the girls, the other one with the weapons tried to get closer.’
The girl, who was 12 at the time, admitted pulling a knife and axe from her waistband during the confrontation.
She said she did so after Belov made sexual remarks towards her.
‘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,’ she said.
After giving evidence via video link, the schoolgirl was warned by Sheriff Niven-Smith about the dangers of carrying weapons.
He told her: ‘You carry a weapon and get into a barney and you might stab and kill someone and spend a large proportion of the rest of your life in prison.’
Officers at the crime scene in Lochee, Dundee, where the Bulgarian factory worker falsely accused the girls of abusing him first
The girl was referred to the Children’s Reporter.
Police have now acknowledged that information released about the incident at the time ‘did not fully reflect the situation’.
Tayside divisional commander Chief Superintendent Elaine Logue said: ‘On August 23 2025, officers responded to an incident in the Lochee area of Dundee.
‘Having ensured the safety of those involved and the wider community, officers took a 14-year-old girl to hospital for care.
‘A 12-year-old girl was cautioned and charged, in the company of an adult relative, and was later reported to the Children’s Reporter.
‘Following further investigation, including review of CCTV, Ilia Belov and Nadjedzha Belova were charged, resulting in today’s conviction of Belov and the earlier conviction of Belova.
‘This was a distressing incident and led to understandable community concern and significant speculation across social media, including misinformation that Belov and Belova are asylum seekers.
‘The incident is an example of the complex situations officers are required to deal with, and I recognise that initial information did not fully reflect the situation.
‘I want to be clear that officers investigate circumstances fully, and without fear or favour, as illustrated by today’s outcome.’
