Wolves fan Jamie Arnold has been sentenced to six months in prison after being found guilty of racially abusing former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand.
Arnold, 32, from Norton Bridge in Staffordshire, had been charged with causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress and last month a jury unanimously found him guilty of racially abusing Ferdinand at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Five months of his sentence are for this offence, and a further month is for breaching a previous conviction, which also had a racist element.
He has also been given a seven-year football banning order from all matches in the UK and abroad.
The sentence is by far the toughest ever handed out to a football fan found guilty of racist abuse at a football match.
Sky Sports News believes the previous highest sentence was for eight weeks after Jonathon Best live-streamed himself racially abusing England’s black players after the Euros final in 2020.
“You have brought shame on your city and shame to your team,” said judge Her Honour Rhona Campbell in her statement.
“Wolverhampton Wanderers do not want a racist on their terraces; they do not want you as a fan; and this city does not tolerate racist behaviour in its midst.”
Jamie Arnold, of Stone, Staffordshire, hurled racist remarks and made monkey gestures at the former England defender, who was working as a pundit for BT Sport during the match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United on May 23 2021.
At Wolverhampton Crown Court, Arnold, 33, appeared in the dock wearing a navy checked suit and red tie.
He looked straight ahead as Judge Rhona Campbell sentenced him for his “deliberately targeted and deeply distressing” actions.
She branded him a “parasite to proper Wolverhampton fans” on a day that should have been “joyful” as home fans were allowed back into Premiership football for the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ahead of the sentencing, the prosecution read a victim impact statement on behalf of Ferdinand, which said: “I was extremely distressed, distraught and devastated by this.
“As an ex-professional football player who has played all over the world representing my club and country I have unfortunately experienced racist comments and gestures whilst playing, however I have learnt to deal with these and have always been supported.
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“However working on TV this is something I have never experienced as a pundit, to be inside a football stadium which was live on TV broadcast around the world makes me sad and angry that someone felt the need to do this to me, which is something I will never ever forget.
“I am constantly thinking about the incident, this is mainly because I was abused inside a football stadium during a live football game that I was involved in providing media coverage.
“Still to this day I do not know why I was abused at Molineux on 23 May 2021, this abuse was unprovoked and completely unacceptable. I accept as an ex-professional football player there will be supporters who will voice opinions about me or whilst I am working on TV, what I don’t accept is that the opinions or gestures made about me or towards me should be abusive and racist where comments are made regarding the colour of my skin and my background.
“The male who abused me has showed a complete lack of respect for me, my family, Wolves FC and everyone associated to football. The male needs to understand how they made me feel and most importantly take responsibility for their actions. It is now 2021 and behaviour like this is completely unacceptable.
“I have worked extremely hard in my life to get to where I am in my career and never thought an incident like this would have such an impact on my life and on my career.
“I am pursuing this case to court because I strongly believe something needs to happen to eradicate racism not only from football but from all forms of society and therefore put my faith in the criminal justice system to ensure this happens.”
Body cam footage from the arresting police officer heard Arnold admit to what he had done, saying “I knew as soon as I had done it, I’d been a stupid ****.”
In a statement in November, Ferdinand said: “Racism will only be eradicated when we all work together as a society!
“The prosecution wouldn’t have been possible without all the help and support from the witnesses, Wolves fans and staff that came forward to testify in court.
“Special thank you to Police Constable Stuart Ward (Football Hate Crime Officer), my family and my team at New Era!”
