A man who used shouted racially aggravated slurs at a town’s football match appeared in court to be sentenced by magistrates.
Samuel Barrett, 30, of Lynn Road, Southery, appeared in Lynn’s Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he admitted to two counts of using racially aggravated words to cause alarm or distress.
Outlined by prosecutor Nishma Shah, Barrett was at a football match at The Walks Stadium in Lynn where the Linnets were playing against Chester.
Security at the match heard shouting from Barrett and was heard saying: “You c**t” and “slip on a banana you monkey” thought to be aimed at a black Chester player.
Barrett was detained by police and said: “You little white chocolate chip cookie.”
He was questioned at Lynn’s police investigation centre and Barrett said: “I had been drinking a lot, it’s not like me.”
He also said: “I would be annoyed if that was shouted, I’m not like that, I have a black mate.”
Barrett is a man of previous good character with no previous convictions.
Mitigating for Barrett was Alison Muir, who said: “He was appalled by what he said, even more so because he had a black friend with him at the time which makes it worse.
“Being in drink is not a defence, but it explains why this man would behave so out of character.
“I’m in no way minimising the seriousness of this offence.”
She explained that if Barrett heard anybody say that in a football stadium, he would have intervened.
“There was no violence used or no weapons. People present were appalled by his behaviour,” said Ms Muir.
She continued: “He’s shown genuine remorse and he has no previous convictions and says he has a number of friends from ethic minority groups.
“This young man will have a criminal record for two racially aggravated offences.”
Magistrates felt it was only appropriate to punish Barrett with a finanical penalty.
Originally, magistrates would have fined Barrett with £133, however, because it was racially aggravated, it was uplifted to £200.
He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge fee of £80 and court costs of £105.
