British tennis star Andy Murray subjected to 'death wish' tweets after declaring support for Scottish independence

British number one Andy Murray was subjected to death wishes on Twitter after the tennis ace declared his support for Scottish independence.

Murray announced his backing for Yes on Twitter, saying that no campaign negativity last few days totally swayed his view on the Scottish independence, adding that he is excited to see the outcome.

However, Murray was soon subjected to a barrage of shocking hate-filled comments on the social media site. A Twitter user posted that he wished Murray had been killed at Dunblane, adding 'you miserable anti-British hypocritical little git' to his tweet, The BBC reported.

The user also tweeted that Murray's life would be a misery from now on. Murray was a pupil at Dunblane Primary school when gunman Thomas Hamilton shot 16 children and their teacher.

Police Scotland described the online abuse directed at the Scot as vile. Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Bernard Higgins said that people who put abuse such as this online should be utterly ashamed of themselves for making such vile, disgusting and distasteful comments.

Higgins also said that they are monitoring social media and where appropriate will take action against those involved, adding that social media is important for many people but it must be used responsibly. He also said that there is no place for personal abuse of any kind on it.

The former Wimbledon winner has previously dodged revealing his opinion on independence. In June he did criticise Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond for waving the country's flag at the tournament last year.

In August, he revealed that he did not think it looked likely the result would be positive, but added that his preference would be to represent Scotland if the country became independent.