By Sonia Paul For Mashable
British student Liam Stacey, who admitted to posting racially offensive comments on Twitter during a soccer match, now faces criminal charges and will be sentenced on March 27.
Stacey, 21, tweeted the remarks on Saturday using the handle @LiamStacey9 after Fabrice Muamba, who plays for the U.K. Bolton Wanderers, collapsed on the field and had a heart attack during a live televised soccer match. “‘LOL, F___ Muamba. He’s dead,” Stacey tweeted.When a number of other users responded with outrage, Stacey replied to them using repeated racial slurs and epithets. He told one to “go back to picking cotton,” according to prosecutors. And that was one of the least offensive examples.
Stacey’s Twitter account has since been taken down, and he has been ordered not to use any social networking sites.
Stacey was arrested on Sunday under a “public order offense” after users reported his comments. He pleaded guilty to racially-aggravated public order offense to incite violence on Monday and was released on bail.
According to reports, Stacey tried to “distance himself” from the tweets by claiming his account had been hacked and later trying to delete the page. However, he was arrested before he could take down the account and later admitted to posting the comments, according to the BBC.
When he appeared at his local court after his arrest, he was told that his comments could land him in jail.
In the U.K., police forces “regularly take action against those who post racially offensive remarks on Twitter,” though these actions by the police are rarely made public.
Stacey says that he was drunk when he posted the racially-offensive comments on Twitter and told the police: “I was at the bar when I heard what had happened to Muamba. I don’t know why I posted it.” Muamba remains in critical condition Monday.
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Image courtesy of iStockphoto, RapidEye.
