SWANSEA, Wales -- The student who mocked Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba on Twitter after the player collapsed on the field during a match has been jailed for inciting racial hatred.
Liam Stacey, a 21-year-old student at Swansea University, admitted to the charge last week and was jailed Tuesday for 56 days.
Muamba's heart stopped beating on its own for 78 minutes after he
collapsed during an FA Cup quarterfinal match against Tottenham March
17. He remains hospitalized in intensive care.
Shortly after Muamba collapsed, Stacey tweeted: "LOL, **** Muamba. He's dead."
After a number of people responded by admonishing Stacey for his post,
he responded with a series of racist and degrading tweets.
According
to British media reports, Twitter users, including former England
player Stan Collymore, reported Stacey's tweets to police, who
investigated and arrested the biology major.
"We hope this case will serve as a warning to anyone who may think that
comments made online are somehow beyond the law," chief prosecutor Jim
Brisbane said.
Stacey tried to delete his Twitter page, and claimed that someone had
hacked into his account. He also said he had been drunk while tweeting
during the Bolton-Tottenham game.
Swansea students have launched a campaign to have Stacey kicked out of the university.
"The
student remains suspended from the university pending the conclusion of
our disciplinary proceedings," a university spokesman said.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.