he was mocked by a Sheriff Court judge after charges against two anti-war protesters were dropped after an altercation with the two protesters and a Labour council candidate. McAveety had claimed they had put him through the "worst intimidation in his life" during an altercation in the southside of Glasgow. In dismissing the case however, Sheriff Graeme Warner said that McAveety "must have lived a very sheltered life" and had "completely blown his credibility". A week later, he was forced to apologise for misleading parliament when he turned up late for a ministerial question time claiming to have been unavoidably detained on ministerial business. It was later discovered that he was actually eating pie, beans and roast potatoes in the parliament canteen. The incident was dubbed by some as "porky pie-gate" and is said to have led First Minister Jack McConnell to sack him from his cabinet later that year. McAveety was re-elected to the Scottish Parliament on 3 May 2007 after winning more than 50% of the vote in Glasgow Shettleston and until June 2010 he served as Convener of the Public Petitions Committee and was the Scottish Labour Party's Shadow Minister for Sport. On 16 June 2010 he resigned as Convenor of the Scottish Parliament's Public Petitions Committee after being overheard making comments about the physical appearance of a female member of the audience during a break in committee proceedings. The comments were broadcast because he had not switched off his microphone. McAveety said: "There's a very attractive girl in the second row, dark... and dusky. We'll maybe put a wee word out for her." McAveety led a campaign in 2009 to establish access for children free of charge to professional football matches in Scotland. He is a keen supporter of Celtic F.C. and the Scottish national team and, while an MSP, was a regular player for the Scottish Parliamentary Football Team, which has taken part in a number of high-profile charity events. McAveety is known for his knowledge of various genres of modern popular music. He has written in praise of David Bowie in the Scotsman newspaper and he wrote a regular feature for Holyrood Magazine, which celebrated and recommended his favourite albums. In April 2005, the Scotsman newspaper dubbed him the "Daddy of Parliamentary Pop". This was in reference to his speech in the Parliamentary Chamber in support of a motion recognising Franz Ferdinand for that