Fan who posted a video on Facebook with racist insults to English players was sentenced to prison

An English fan who filmed himself uttering racist insults against footballers Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka After the final lost by his country in Euro 2020, he was sentenced this Wednesday to ten weeks in prison in London.

Jonathan Best, age 52, posted on his Facebook page a 18 second video in which he launched a series of attacks against the three players, who had missed their shots in the decisive shooting session against Italy (3-2 in the shoot-out in favor of Azzurra after a 1-1 draw).

The defendant pleaded guilty and was convicted by the Willesden court (North West London) of having “made an extremely insulting message or content public on a communication network”.

Rashford, Sancho and Saka had received a flood of racist messages on social media after the July 11 final at Wembley, in which England had missed the opportunity to win his first major title since the 1966 World Cup.

Judge Denis Brennan explained that he had initially contemplated that the sentence be suspended but then decided that it was a punishment with firm compliance for discourage other people from doing the sameor in the future.

“The words he used were profane, infamous and insulting, they attack the very nature of our civilized society ”, the magistrate estimated in his verdict.

Best’s video was pointed out to Facebook and the police by a colleague and a contact on the social network, after he refused to delete the video.

“It’s my profile, I do what I want”Best responded, according to prosecutor Elaine Cousins. (D)