Football fan admits racially abusing Yorke

A football fan today admitted in court to racially abusing Birmingham striker Dwight Yorke.

Jason Perryman, 22, was caught on TV cameras hurling monkey chants and gesturing towards the former Rovers player during a live match on Sunday.

Today Perryman, of Chorley, Lancashire, admitted at Blackburn Magistrates Court to an offence of racially aggravated disorderly behaviour.

Perryman intends to apologise to Yorke in a letter, the court heard.

A second fan, David Ashcroft, 21, pleaded not guilty to a second charge following Sunday’s game.

Perryman was fined and given a maximum five-year football banning order. It means he cannot now attend a football match in England and Wales until 2009.

Passing sentence, John Fryer, chairman of the bench, said: “You racially humiliated Dwight Yorke in public by both actions as well as words. There is no place in football or anywhere else for racist behaviour.”

Yorke was upset and had confronted Perryman over the monkey chants and gestures, telling him he was “out of order”, the court heard.

Perryman was then ejected from the ground by stewards.

Michael Singleton, mitigating, said the defendant had been drinking before the match and was now ashamed of his behaviour.

“During the course of the game, it became apparent there were taunts being directed towards Dwight Yorke,” Mr Singleton said.

“Those taunts seemed to relate to Mr Yorke’s energetic lifestyle in direct proportion to the energy expended as a Blackburn Rovers player whilst playing for them. Those taunts were for the most part relatively light-hearted.

“Mr Perryman accepts he took matters further and beyond that which was taking place into realms that were totally unacceptable.”

The defendant became aware of a nationwide appeal the next day and went to police. He was shown a videotape of the incident.

“Mr Perryman was appalled by what he saw. It’s his intention as well as to publicly apologise to Dwight Yorke and Blackburn Rovers, to write personally to Mr Yorke and the chief executive of Blackburn Rovers,” Mr Singleton added.

David Macro, prosecuting, said Yorke had expected some “jibes” but, while warming up on the touch line, became aware of the racist taunts.

“Mr Perryman was seen to be gesturing towards Mr Yorke, gesturing imitating a monkey using his arms moving up and down in that fashion to his armpits.

“At the same time, he is making ’ooh ooh ooh’ monkey noises. Mr Yorke was clearly upset,” Mr Macro told the court.

“He went over and said to them: ’That’s out of order. You should not be doing that. Stop.’ It’s made all the more worse in light of recent events of the England and Spain football match.”

Ashcroft, of Brantwood Drive, in Leyland, Lancs, pleaded not guilty to the same offence and was bailed to reappear at the court on December 22.