Shamed, the drunken louts who hurled vile abuse at England boss
Trio fined for threatening behaviour to rugby coach
THREE Scottish fans who hurled ‘vile’ abuse at England rugby union coach Eddie Jones were yesterday slammed for showing no remorse.
The trio had taunted the 58-yearold Australian after spotting him waiting for a chauffeur-driven car at a railway station the day after England’s Six Nations defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield.
They drunkenly tried to make Mr Jones agree to a selfie and, after he reluctantly agreed, one of them rubbed the top of his head and tried to kiss it. They then yelled, ‘What about last night?’ before hurling foul-mouthed insults at him, a court heard.
As the shaken head coach was ushered into his car at Manchester Oxford Road station, one of the group opened the door again to continue chanting and swearing at him.
Mr Jones initially declined to make a complaint but police were called after footage of the incident went viral on social media. He said later that he no longer felt safe using British public transport.
Yesterday Ritchie Cleeton, 22, Connor Inglis, 25, and Brett Grant, 23, all of Edinburgh, were fined after they were brought back to Manchester to face magistrates and admitted using threatening behaviour.
But their lawyer claimed that Mr Jones was a ‘divisive character’ who engaged in banter, and he compared their boorish behaviour to that of the coach himself.
Mr Jones was in the city to watch Manchester United play Chelsea at Old Trafford on February 25 when the group spotted him, magistrates were told.
The trio had been on the same train as fans who had watched Scotland’s 25-13 victory the day before, although they had not been at Murrayfield themselves. Carl Miles, prosecuting, said they asked for a photo, which was consented to initially – possibly ‘to diffuse the situation’.
‘But things began to get disorderly,’ he added.
The driver, Steven Webb, said Mr Jones was ‘quite shaken’ and he was worried ‘things could potentially become physical’. He called the Scots’ behaviour ‘disgusting’.
The court was told the men answered ‘no comment’ in their police interviews.
Inglis has two convictions for offences including assault, while Grant has convictions for breach of the peace, possession of an offensive weapon and obstructing a police officer, the court heard.
In mitigation, defence lawyer Matthew Wallace said Mr Jones was ‘something of a divisive character’, referring to his comments at a sports evening about the ‘scummy Irish’, Wales being a ‘s*** little place’ and questioning whether Scotland could ‘handle expectations’ ahead of the England game.
He claimed Mr Jones had been ‘abusive’ and ‘things escalated’.
Fining Cleeton £120, Inglis £105 and Grant £140, magistrate Joe Bangudu said the men’s language was ‘vile’.
He added: ‘You have shown little or no remorse at all and that is a concern for us.’
‘Things began to get disorderly’