November 05, (THEWILL) –Â After sending many anti-Semitic tweets aimed at Tottenham supporters, a Chelsea fan was sentenced to eight weeks in prison.
Between September 2020 and February of this year, Nathan Blagg, a 21-year-old, committed the crimes. He was discovered to have sent a slew of anti-Semitic messages, including images of the Nazi salute and Auschwitz.
When authorities pressed Blagg to explain his activities, he said the posts were just “banter between buddies.”
According to BBC, District Judge Michael Hamilton ruled that the only acceptable punishment for the tweets was an immediate prison sentence, which he described as “abhorrent and grossly offensive.”
“Quite frankly, the content of these messages was despicable,” he told Westminster Magistrates’ Court. “References to the Holocaust and other matters cannot, on any view, ever be categorised as banter.”
Blagg’s detention comes just days after an England fan was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison for live-streaming himself racially insulting Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, and Marcus Rashford in the aftermath of the Euro 2020 final loss.
Jonathon Best, 52, uploaded an 18-second video of himself attacking the players to Facebook, which remained up for three days before the social media platform took it down.
Gareth Southgate, England manager, said of Best’s punishment: “Well, I think it’s always encouraging if sanctions are taken against that sort of action and the messaging becomes clear that it’s unacceptable and intolerable so I think that’s the best way to answer that really.”
The Crown Prosecution Service has acknowledged that they are working with the police, player organisations, and other organisations to explain what evidence is required to prosecute anyone found guilty of racial abuse on social media.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
