A Chelsea fan and human rights activist has admitted pushing a black man off a Paris Metro train, but blamed the Parisian for “shouting” and starting the altercation.
Richard Barklie, (50), twice shoved the man amid chants from the train of “John Terry is a racist and that’s the way we like it, ooh ooh ooh”.
But he insisted he had no “racist motive” and that Souleymane Sylla was the only one “using aggression”.
Barklie, from Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland, served as an officer with the Royal Ulster Constabulary and is a director with the World Human Rights Forum.
He is among four Chelsea fans appearing at court fighting attempts to issue them with football banning orders which could bar them from matches for 10 years.
He told Stratford Magistrates’ Court the train was “packed” and he only pushed Mr Sylla off because there was no room. “Mr Sylla, and it’s my view, was the only one using aggression,” he said. “From what I’ve seen and what I’ve viewed he was aggressively forcing himself into a space where there was none.”
Talking through video footage played in court which shows him force Mr Sylla off the train, he said he put his hands up to protect himself. “I think he had tried to get on first and then he tried to get on again, but by that stage he was shouting. It’s not clear here, but I’ve seen other footage and it’s more clear he was shouting and there was spray coming from his mouth.
“I did push him, I put my hands up to stop him getting into the space where I was standing. From my perception there were others behind me trying to get towards Mr Sylla and I felt myself getting pushed forward by the momentum.”
Asked by his defence barrister Nick Scott if “there was any issue in relation to the colour of his skin”, Barklie said: “None whatsoever.”
He added: “I think he was remonstrating that there was room in the carriage. But it was packed and there was no room for him.”
Barklie said he feared there could be “repercussions” if the Parisian managed to get on board the carriage because of the large number of Chelsea fans aboard.
But earlier the court heard Jordan Munday, (20), who is also accused of being involved in the race row, said there was enough space for him to force his way through the carriage and see the aftermath.
He said he was interested in seeing what the “commotion” was about, but he didn’t join in the race chants or see the altercation.
Adam Clemens, representing the Metropolitan Police, said: “At the end of the ooh ooh ooh your mouth was moving and it closes at the end.”
Munday, of Sidcup, south-east London, replied: “There was movement – I was breathing. I have to breathe.”
Pressed on whether he thought the chant was racist, Munday said: “It could be considered that, yes.”
In his statement, read out in court, he said: “I came forward, heard a commotion. It was certainly not my intention to get involved.”
Trouble flared up as Chelsea fans were on their way to see the London club play against Paris St Germain on February 17th.
Violence had erupted the previous year when the two clubs clashed.
Munday and Barklie were both in a group of around 150 Chelsea fans who walked through Paris on their way to the match as flares were set off and some clambered on a car.
Video footage shows Munday “fronting up” to a Parisian and shoving him twice. But he insisted he had been “stalked” by the man and felt himself to be under threat.
In a statement read to court he said: “I pushed him away from me as I felt he was trying to start trouble with me. He was speaking French which I didn’t understand. He continued to stalk me from far away which became very frustrating and I tried to walk towards him and tell him to leave me alone. I didn’t think going over to tell a person to stop baiting me would be an issue.”
Josh Parsons, (20), and William Simpson, (26), also deny wrongdoing and are fighting the application for football banning orders.
A fifth man, Dean Callis, (32), of Liverpool Road in Islington, north London, earlier received a five-year banning order for his role in Paris and other incidents involving violence.