By Gabriel Princewill-
A soft suspended sentence has been handed out to a father-of-three who posted a repugnant video on Facebook, racially abusing Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after the Euro 2020 final has been handed a suspended sentence.
England lost 3-2 on penalties to Italy , following a 1-1 draw at Wembley in the final on July 11 this summer.
Rashford, Sancho and Saka, all inadvertently contributed to the misery of England fans, after they all missed from the spot for England in the decisive penalty shoot-out.
Rashford, a striker for Manchester United, was expected to squarely place the ball in the net, as was Sancho.
However, they joined other world football stars like Ronaldo and Maradona, who have missed important penalties from the spot.
The trio had joined the game with little over a minute to go to conclude extra time.
Angry fan, Bradford Petty posted a status update shortly after England lost on penalties in the final Clearly intoxicated, Pretty can be heard saying: “Where do I start? Where do I start? So gutted like all of us. Proper deflated, big proud of the boys, big proud, but anyone and everyone that knows me well will understand what I am talking about.”
He proceeded to refer to Rashford, Sancho and Saka missing penalties, using two racist slurs to refer to them. When challenged in the comments section of the video, Pretty apologised to anyone offended but railed against “political correctness”.
Chairman of the bench Chris Mackenny told Pretty that his offending “clearly passes the custody threshold” but in typicval fashion, chose a suspended the sentence of 50 days in prison for 12 months.
The admission by the Chairman of the bench that the offence of the racist England fan passes the custodial sentence, shows just how soft the law is in dealing with racism in the Uk.
However, the law has the challenging task of precedent, which could call for a custodial sentence for every similar exhibition of racism, if it went very tough on such level of racism. There would appear to be no reason such tough action cannot be applied to an irrefutable level of racism posted on social media.
Plasterer Bradford Pretty, 50, drank “15 or 16” cans of lager before executing his toxic racial attack against the three England players following the painful loss to Italy in July.
The clip , which depicts the fan using two racist slurs to describe the trio – was uploaded to social media without concern for any consequences of his actions.
Pretty appeared at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday where he admitted sending a message that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.”
In the video, an intoxicated and care free Pretty can be heard saying: “Where do I start? Where do I start?
“So gutted like all of us.
“Proper deflated, big proud of the boys, big proud, but anyone and everyone that knows me well will understand what I am talking about.”
He goes on to refer to Rashford, Sancho and Saka missing penalties and uses two racist slurs to refer to them.
“I am so f****** sad. I am so f****** sad,” he adds at the end.
When challenged in the comments section of the video, Pretty apologised to anyone that was offended but railed against “political correctness”.
He added: “I am standing up and saying what I said for the weak ones…
“England till I die.”
Abhorrent
His defence solicitor Richard Graham acknowledged the video was “abhorrent”, saying it was a “moment of drunken madness”.
He said Pretty had drank “15 or 16” cans of lager on the day of the final and was “clearly heavily intoxicated” in the video.
Deputy chief crown prosecutor Elizabeth Jenkins, the CPS’s hate crime in football lead, said: “There is no room in the game, nor elsewhere, for racism.
“Where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest, we will prosecute such cases and seek an increased sentenced on conviction.
“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.”
Senior crown prosecutor Mark Tavender added: “The video uploaded to Facebook by Bradford Pretty was entirely unacceptable and included racist language that will never be tolerated in our society.
“After Kent Police reported the case to the CPS, we made the decision to charge Pretty with sending an obscene message via a social network. Pretty then entered a guilty plea in which he accepted the charge
“The CPS is committed to tackling hate crime wherever it appears in society and will never hesitate to prosecute crimes of this nature whenever our legal test is met.”
In September, Scott McCluskey, was given a 14-week suspended sentence, and told he must wear an electronic tag for 40 weeks over a racist comment directed towards black England footballers after the team’s defeat in the Euro 2020 final in July.
McCluskey, 43, posted a status update on his Facebook profile shortly after England lost to Italy on 11 July, Warrington magistrates court heard. He blamed “three ethnic players” for the defeat and then used a racial slur calling for them to be sacked.
He posted a status update shortly after England lost on penalties in the final on July 11, writing: “Well it took three ethnic players to f*** it up. Unlucky England. Sack them three monkeys.”
District judge, Nicholas Sanders, at the time described his acts as a foul offence which has ”far reaching consequences” and sentenced McCluskey to 14 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.
Whether a suspended sentence constitutes far reaching consequences is a matter of debate, but a much stronger deterrent is avowedly necessary to eradicate the uninhibited levels of racism the misfits of society openly display without fear.