A Limerick football fan who carried out what a judge said was the lowest form of racial taunt when throwing a banana at a black player was yesterday ordered to do 240 hours of community work, or face eight months in jail.

A soccer fan, whose brother once got a youth trial with Manchester United, was told by a judge he had carried out the lowest form of racial taunt when throwing a banana at a black player.

A man who threw a banana, which landed beside a black Premier League soccer player during a glamour friendly match in Limerick last year, has been ordered to do 240 hours community service with the migrant community.