By Eric King-
Former West Ham player, Trevor Sinclair, has pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence, and drink driving, after being caught twice over the limit.
The 44-year-old television pundit accused the officers of racism, by asking the officer if he was being arrested because he was black, before urinating in a police car, Blackpool Magistrates’ Court heard.
Sinclair, a patron of the charity Kick It Out from Lancashire continued being racist after he was taken to the cells at Blackpool Police Station. The racism charge is unusual for a black man, normally expected to be on the receiving end of racism. However, this case could set a precedent in which a black person or one of an ethnic minority can be accused of racism if using the race card in a situation in which they are clearly the guilty party. The logic behind the charge is that Sinclair was unjustly using the race of the officers against them, by accusing them of racism when he was clearly the offending party.
Sinclair is a patron of the charity Kick It was charged with a racially aggravated public order offense which occurred on November 12 last year.
Mitigating for Sinclair, his barrister, Nick Freeman, told the court that the “catalyst” for his behavior that night was being subjected to racism, in front of his family, while out having a meal one hour earlier.
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Mr Freeman told the court that a woman had approached the father of four, patting him on the head and calling him a “little chocolate man”. This does not in any form or shape justify him playing the race card against officers when he knew he had broken the law by drinking and driving. His subsequent act of urinating in the police vehicle was so disgraceful that he should not be allowed on our television screens ever again. The former West Ham player is a disgrace to his race and dares I say, also a disgrace to his job.
Following Sinclair’s guilty pleas, the prosecution dropped other charges including assault on a police officer, failing to provide a specimen and criminal damage. The decision to drop charges of assault on a police officer is wrong, striking deals of compromise in exchange for far weaker sentences is tantamount to adjusting the rules of justice. Sinclair should know better and has not only brought his name to disrepute, his credibility as a professional pundit is surely out of the window. The former West Ham player is due to be sentenced later today.
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