Chelsea fan denies he’s a racist

A former Northern Ireland policeman who is one of three men sought in relation to an alleged racist incident involving Chelsea football fans on a Paris Metro train, has apologised for his involvement.

But Richard Barklie, 50, insisted he is not a racist. The former RUC and PSNI officer, from Carrickfergus, is a director withthe World Human Rights Forum, and has also worked supporting victims of the Troubles.

He is one of the three men whose images were released by Scotland Yard as part of an investigation into a group of fans who allegedly pushed a black man off the train and chanted a racist song on Tuesday.

Online footage showed the commuter, named as Souleymane S, being pushed back onto the platform amid chants of “we’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it”.

Last night, Mr Barklie issued a statement through his lawyer in which he admitted involvement in an “incident” that resulted in Souleymane S being “unable to enter part of the train”. He said he had an account he wanted to provide to police that would explain the “context and circumstances”.

He denied singing racist songs; said he travelled to the game alone; insisted he did not know any of the other individuals ; and has never been part of any “group or faction” of fans

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