Chelsea racist chants: Ex-policeman in court
- Published
Richard Barklie, centre, William Simpson, left, and Joshua Parsons, right are challenging football banning orders
A former policeman pushed a black man twice and refused to allow him on to a Paris Metro train as Chelsea fans chanted racist songs, a court heard.
Richard Barklie, from Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, is one of four fans facing a football banning order over a confrontation filmed ahead of a Champions League game in February.
The footage showed several fans chanting: "We're racist and that's the way we like it."
Mr Barklie denies chanting.
The Metropolitan Police is applying for football banning orders to be imposed on four men the force believes were involved in the confrontation.
In addition to Mr Barklie, 50, of Victoria Street in Carrickfergus, Jordan Munday, 20, of Ellenborough Road, Sidcup, south-east London; Josh Parsons, 20, of Woodhouse Place, Dorking, Surrey; and William Simpson, 26, of Hengrove Crescent in Ashford, Surrey, are challenging the ban.
'Not enough space'
The banning orders would prevent them from attending games at home or abroad.
Scotland Yard confirmed another Chelsea supporter, Dean Callis, 32, of Liverpool Road, Islington, had received a five-year banning order ahead of the court hearing for a number of incidents, including a separate one in Paris.
The prosecution said Mr Barklie "was present in the group, pushed the victim twice and joined in the chanting".
The alleged victim, a French commuter known only as Souleymane S, previously said the whole episode was "humiliating".
Mr Barklie's lawyer Nick Scott told the court his client had pushed him off the train because it was busy and there was not enough space.
He said: "There are three people in the way filling up the door. He's just pushed off - no violence or aggression."
The Thames Magistrates' Court hearing, sitting in Stratford, continues.
Update 21 March 2016: This page has been amended to clarify that the order concerning Dean Callis did not involve the incident on the Metro.