Chelsea fan jailed for anti-Semitic tweets aimed at Spurs supporters

Nathan Blagg sent the tweets between September 2020 and February this year

A Chelsea supporter who posted anti-Semitic tweets aimed at Tottenham fans, including photos of Auschwitz and a man doing a Nazi salute, has been jailed.

Nathan Blagg, 21, who told police the tweets were "banter between mates", was given an eight week sentence on Friday.

He had already pleaded guilty to seven counts of sending offensive messages.

District Judge Michael Hamilton told Blagg only immediate custody would be a suitable punishment for the "abhorrent and grossly offensive" tweets.

He told Westminster Magistrates' Court: "Quite frankly, the content of these messages was despicable.

"References to the Holocaust and other matters cannot, on any view, ever be categorised as banter."

• Chelsea fan admits posting anti-Semitic tweets

His sentence was increased by three weeks to reflect the racial hate crime element, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Kalsoom Shah, from the CPS, said: "Nathan Blagg thought hiding behind a screen could shield him from the consequences of posting hateful and abusive content. That is absolutely not the case."

The lifelong Chelsea supporter, from Retford, Nottinghamshire, sent the tweets between September 2020 and February this year.

Blagg was a Chelsea season ticket holder

During the court case last month, prosecutor David Roberts said the messages were alleged to be "racially aggravated... given the context of Tottenham Hotspur's fans coming from a Jewish area".

Blagg posted a picture of the train tracks to Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz on Twitter, along with the message: "Spurs are on their way to Auschwitz."

Another post featured a fake image of former health secretary Matt Hancock holding a microphone saying the same words.

Blagg was arrested in February after a West Bromwich Albion fan reported his messages, which were investigated by Chelsea's security team.

Maeve Thornton, representing Blagg, who works in road construction and lives at home with his parents, told the court he has a "lack of maturity".

She added the 21-year-old had removed himself from Twitter and was "deeply remorseful."