Five
Chelsea supporters suspected of involvement in an incident in Paris in which
a black man was prevented from boarding a train will fight applications to
impose football banning orders, a court has heard.
Controversy erupted when fans were filmed singing racist chants and refusing
to let the man on the Paris Metro train ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League
match against Paris Saint-Germain on February 17.
Several Chelsea supporters chanted: "We're racist, we're racist and that's
the way we like it."
The Metropolitan Police are applying for football banning orders to be
imposed on five men who they believe were involved in the incident.
The five all attended Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court in north-east London
for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
They are: Richard Barklie, 50, Dean Callis, 32; Jordan Munday, 20, Josh
Parsons, 20, and William Simpson, 26.
Prosecutor Ian Rees Phillips told the court - which was packed with legal
representatives and reporters from the UK and France - that the five men
opposed the implementation of the banning orders.
District Judge Mary Connolly said the orders would involve severe
restrictions to civil liberties and adjourned the hearing until July 15 and
16 as she said she needed at least two days to consider the issue.
Banning orders are designed as a preventative measure to stop potential
troublemakers from travelling to football matches at home and abroad.
The French commuter kept off the train, Souleymane S, has said the incident
"destroyed" him and left him unable to work or travel on public transport.
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