A football yob has been handed a 3-year football banning order, a fine and community service for a racist gesture made towards Tottenham star Son Heung-min in a match against Crystal Palace last season.
44 year-old Mr Garland made the gesture towards Son as he was substituted off against Crystal Palace in the closing stages of the game and plead guilty to racially aggravated harassment in court earlier on this year.
Although Garland’s punishment was set to be community service and a fine, prosecutors reportedly pushed for a football banning order to be added to his receipt.
As a result, Mr Garland is banned from all football matches for 3 years and must surrender his passport during international fixtures.
Garland’s racist gesture did not go unnoticed at the time, with fans picking up on his offence and sharing via social media during the match. Crystal Palace issued him with a club ban as a result of his actions, with further punishment now following suit.
Tottenham star Son told Police at the time that he did “nothing to be targeted with this horrible racist and discriminatory behaviour”.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) gave warning to any fans who show discriminatory behaviour towards players, with Chief Prosecutor Douglas Mackay saying:
“It has a massive impact on the game, the players and fans.”
“Not only will the CPS look to prosecute anyone making vile gestures or actions, we will ask courts to ban them from the sport they say they love.”
“Anyone committing offences this season runs the risk of being banned from seeing their national team play in Euro 2024 as well as travelling abroad during that time, limiting summer holiday plans.”
Tottenham ‘disgusted’ with racist abuse of Udogie
Tottenham’s captain may not be in the best spirits after his side’s disastrous outing against Chelsea on Monday night, but he can at least rest knowing that Mr Garland has now felt the full force of justice against discrimination in football.
Son & Co return to action on Saturday with a Premier League matchup with Wolves kicking off at 12.30.
