Football Club Safety Officer fined over racially abusive remark
It happened during a Coventry City match last year.
A football club safety officer has been fined £345 after using a racially offensive word when she was asked to investigate a complaint reported by an ethnic minority steward.
Magistrates sitting in Birmingham were told Nicola Pollard, who had worked for Coventry City for 24 years, was charged with causing racially aggravated distress after telling control room staff she would "go and deal with that ****."
Pollard admitted using what her own lawyer described as the "filthy, horrid" four-letter word, but pleaded not guilty on the grounds it was not likely to cause distress during a Coventry-Middlesbrough match in March last year.
The game was at St Andrews, where the Sky Blues were playing home games last season.
Magistrates deliberated for less than 30 minutes before convicting the 51-year-old, who is from Radford, Coventry.
Passing sentence on Tuesday, magistrates also ordered Pollard to pay £500 in costs and a £35 surcharge, after ruling that her actions had caused harassment, alarm or distress.
In a statement Coventry City said;
"Coventry City Football Club can confirm that a club employee has been found guilty of causing racially aggravated distress in a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
The employee was charged following an incident at a behind-closed-doors fixture last year at St Andrew’s.
Following the verdict, the member of staff has now been suspended by the Football Club pending further investigation, in accordance with the Club’s HR procedures.
The Club is not able to provide any further comment at this stage."