Manchester City fan Anthony Burke has been fined £500 and banned from football grounds for three years for racist monkey chant at Manchester United stars.
On 7th December 2019, 42-year-old Anthony Burke was spotted on TV making a monkey gesture and noises towards three black United players: Fred, Jesse Lingard, and Anthony Martial during the Manchester derby match.
Burke was arrested the day after United’s 2-1 Premier League victory at the Etihad Stadium and was convicted at Tameside Magistrates’ Court of a racially aggravated public order offense although he pleaded not guilty in August last year to a racially aggravated public order. In his defense, Burke said he had sworn at the players but denied it was racist. He claimed he had reacted to a gesture made towards the supporters by United player Martial saying ‘what came out of my mouth was oooooh. It was a continuous noise”.
He said it was designed to show the player that he “wasn’t bothered”.
However, in the circulating footage that beamed around the world and shown in court, Burke could be seen with his mouth open, with both hands raised to his waist. District Judge Margaret McCormack said she didn’t find it “credible that you were responding to the United player in kind”.
And, according to Frank Coulson, a steward at the stadium, he informed the court, “it was racism. I saw a large gentleman with a beard going ‘Oo, oo, oo, oo’- 100% that’s what he was doing”.
“I have never seen anyone do a monkey chant. The air can be blue where I work but what made this one different as it below the belt”.
She added (Margaret McCormack), “you were bothered. Your team was being beaten. It was like a powder keg. You did act as alleged by Mr. Coulson”. Hence the judge found him guilty.
Burke left the court without comment and was ordered to pay a £500 fine plus £200 in costs and a £50 victim levy.