Daily Mirror

TV STAR JAMIE IN SPITTING STORM

Sky pundit sorry after clash with 14-yr-old girl fan

- BY PAUL BYRNE and TOM DAVIDSON

LIVERPOOL legend Jamie Carragher was filmed spitting at a teenage fan from his car.

The Sky pundit’s saliva hit the Man Utd supporter, 14, who was with her dad, after banter about his ex-club losing at Old Trafford.

He later apologised, admitting: “What I did was wrong.” The girl’s furious mum said: “It’s disgusting.”

JAMIE Carragher last night apologised to a teenage girl after he spat at her face – and her mum branded him “disgusting”.

The Liverpool legend was caught on camera spitting at the passenger window of a car containing the 14-year-old Manchester United fan and her dad after Saturday’s Red Devils victory over the visitors from Anfield.

She claimed the saliva hit her on the forehead, making her cry.

Her dad told how he had been having “a bit of banter” with the former defender which turned ugly after he mentioned the 2-1 scoreline. And he insisted the TV star must have seen his daughter was in the passenger seat on his side.

Carragher, who had been covering the match as a Sky Sports pundit, last night phoned the girl and her father and said: “I just want to apologise and I hope you are OK.” The youngster told him: “OK, thanks for apologisin­g.”

Sky Sports said last night: “It’s unacceptab­le behaviour and we will be addressing it with Jamie.”

Carragher claimed he lost the plot after the ribbing went on too long. The 40-year-old said: “I would like to apologise for my actions which were totally out of character.

“I was continuall­y goaded and verbally abused numerous times whilst being filmed in slow moving traffic and reacted in a way that is of course regretful. What I did was wrong and I have since personally apologised to the family involved.”

In footage of the incident shot by the girl’s dad, she can be heard saying: “He spat on me.” He asks her: “Where did it hit you?” She replies: “On my face.”

The girl’s 38-year-old mum was furious at dad-of-two Carragher for spitting at a child.

She said: “I was extremely angry and disappoint­ed that he could even bring himself to do something like that. Looking at her, you know she is a child.

“What did she do wrong? She did not do anything wrong. Spitting at someone is the lowest of the low. It is disgusting.

“In all the years I’ve watched football, isn’t it all about banter?

“And he could not take that little bit of banter? It was nothing. I could understand if someone was in his face, giving him abuse.”

The schoolgirl told of her shock after the incident. She said: “I have never been spat at by anyone before. I thought, ‘Why has he done that’. I thought I had done something wrong. People in school take the mick and it is just a laugh. Someone like him who is older should be able to take a joke.” Her dad told how they spotted Carragher about two miles from Old Trafford after the clash.

He said he took his phone out and started filming. In the footage, Carragher appears to lower his window and the man winds down his passenger side.

The United fan added: “He looked at me and waved, I waved back and then he put his window down.

“I said, ‘Hey Jamie, good result, 2-1’ and he sort of looked at me and I said, ‘2-1, ha ha’ and his face just changed. I could just see him lurch towards his window and spit. I was stunned. I had not insulted him. I had not sworn at him. I have not got out and banged on his car. I have not done anything abusive, not stuck two fingers up at him. “I’ve met footballer­s before and they have always been very accommodat­ing. I thought, ‘Jamie Carragher, he is going to be up for a laugh.’ So when he did spit I was taken aback. “I looked at my daughter and she was tearing up. I said did it hit you and she said, ‘He hit me in the face.’ “For a grown man to do that to a girl who had not done anything. She was sat in a passenger seat while her dad was trying to have harmless banter. There is no two ways about it. He saw her.” The dad also claimed moments later Carragher pulled up on the driver’s side of his car and gave him a thumbs up. He added: “I was angry and upset because my daughter was crying. I could not believe what had happened. She said, ‘I’m embarrasse­d, he has just spat in my face. I don’t want to talk about it.’” The girl also claimed she was sure Carragher saw her in the passenger seat. She said: “Hundred per cent, I was right in the way. I did not say anything. I was just sat there looking out of the window.” But the dad denied repeatedly goading Carragher. He said: “I filmed him once, there was one video.” Bootle-born Carragher won 38 caps for England before he retired in 2013.

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CAUGHT IN ACT Carragher spits out of his window
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