A man has been handed a three year banning order after he racially abused Chelsea and England player Raheem Sterling during a game at Villa Park.
Timothy Hyslop was heard to shout out a racist slur when Sterling was on the ball during the first half of the Premier League game between Aston Villa and Chelsea on 16 October last year.
Hyslop, 54, from Britannia Drive, Burton, was brought in after the game and interviewed under caution. He was charged with a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence.
He appeared at Birmingham Magistrates Court yesterday (17 Jan) where he pleaded guilty to the charge.
As well as the banning order he was told to pay fines and court costs totalling £538.
Pc Stuart Ward, football hate crime officer at West Midlands Police, said: “This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. Abusing anyone for the colour of their skin is disgusting and can never, ever be condoned.
“There is no place for racism in football or society in general. I would like to thank Aston Villa for their assistance during this investigation.”
Pc Ward was appointed the UK’s first dedicated hate crime officer based within a football unit two years ago.
He is leading our attempts to stamp out abuse both at football games and online abuse aimed at footballers and fans.
His role has improved our ability to support victims and investigate the offences.
He investigates complaints of hate crime linked to football, monitoring online interactions and working with the region’s clubs – at both professional and amateur level – to highlight what is an offence and the importance of reporting it.
Pc Ward also goes into schools to educate around discrimination and outline behaviour which can never be condoned, and link in with other bodies such as Kick It Out.