Swindon Town fan fined for shouting abuse at Ashley Cole

Ashley Cole was working as a pundit when the incident happened

A Swindon Town fan has been fined £300 for "shouting and jeering" at Ashley Cole during an FA Cup match last year.

Lee Oscroft, 25, previously admitted directing foul language at the former Arsenal and Chelsea star following the club's clash with Manchester City.

He was acquitted of using any racist language, and appeared in court earlier where he avoided a banning order.

But district Judge Joanna Dickens told him: "Your words were vile, they were disrespectful of [Cole] as a person."

Oscroft, who is currently doing temporary work in a call centre, was given the fine at Swindon Magistrates' Court and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £34 victim surcharge to Cole for breaching section five of the Public Order Act.

'Nasty incident'

Judge Dickens said: "I'm not going to impose a football banning order because I don't think it meets the criteria. It wasn't racially motivated."

Defending Oscroft, Emma Thacker told the court he had no further convictions since being given a three year football banning order in 2017.

Ms Thacker said of that incident: "He had a flare in his pocket that was taken away from him, he was given a three year banning order which was revoked after two years because he had complied with it fully."

She also told the court that he had essentially been banned from attending matches for the past year, following his arrest on 29 January 2022 for this incident as part of his bail conditions.

Judge Dickens told Oscroft: "You're now a marked man, you know you're a marked man. You've got to grow up.

"If you carry on you will be banned. It was a nasty incident."