Euro 2020: England fan jailed over racist rant
- Published
Jadon Sancho (left) and Marcus Rashford were targeted for abuse after missing their spot-kicks in the penalty shootout at Wembley on 11 July
A football fan who livestreamed himself on Facebook racially abusing three black England players after the Euro 2020 final has been jailed.
Jonathon Best, 52, posted a rant about Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka, the CPS said. The three missed in the penalty shootout against Italy, which England lost.
He was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison at Willesden Magistrates' Court.
Facebook took down the 18-second clip three days after it was posted.
Best had previously pleaded guilty to sending by public communication network a grossly offensive or menacing message.
The court heard the forklift driver from Feltham, west London, was reported to the police and Facebook after a friend asked him to take down the clip and he refused.
Bukayo Saka was also subjected to abuse
Elaine Cousins, from the CPS, said: "While the majority of the nation took great pride in the Three Lions reaching their first international final in more than 50 years, Jonathon Best took to Facebook to livestream a barrage of racist abuse at the three players who missed penalties during the game.
"He used social media to publicly vilify these three young men who tried to score for England. When approached by a Facebook friend asking him to remove the grossly offensive content, Best replied: 'It's my profile, I can do what I want.'"
She added: "I would like to thank the individual who reported this appalling hate crime and I hope this prosecution goes some way in educating and deterring people from posting hate on social media."
Following the case, the CPS announced it was working with the police, player bodies and other organisations to explain what evidence is needed to pass its legal tests to authorise charges in hate crime cases.
Elizabeth Jenkins of the CPS said: "Hate crimes such as these have a massive impact on players and their mental health.
"The CPS takes this kind of offending very seriously and this case shows that where offensive content is reported to the police we can successfully bring offenders to justice."