A CHELSEA fan accused of chanting racist abuse at a black man on the Paris Metro today claimed he was a ‘scapegoat’ .
Jordan Munday, 20, was allegedly part of the group who blocked Souleymane Sylla, 33, from boarding the train as they made their way to a Champions League match.
Mobile phone footage appears to show Chelsea fans clapping and singing: “We’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it” during the incident on February 17 this year.
Mr Sylla was trying to board the busy train in the French capital when fans twice forced him back onto the platform.
The Metropolitan Police has applied for football banning orders against five men said to be involved.
Munday, ex-police officer Richard Barklie, 50, City worker Josh Parsons, 20, Dean Callis, 32, and William Simpson, 26, face being barred from all matches for five years.
But Munday claims the only evidence against him was the fact he was standing close to the group of thugs.
Police say that prior to the incident Munday was confrontational with PSG fans, and had tried to cover his face.
PC Neil West told Stratford magistrates’ court how Munday had been involved in another altercation with another man before joining in with the chanting.
Cross examining the officer, Alison Gurdon, for Munday, said: “The Met just want to make it seem like they are clamping down on football hooliganism.
“Mr Munday is essentially being used as a scapegoat and in most situations an application wouldn’t have been made at this stage.’
She continued: “There’s no indication that Mr Munday has been involved in offending and he’s been associating with Chelsea hooligans.
“You’ve tried to link him to others and associate other’s behaviour with him.
“No other members of the public made a complaint that they felt intimidated.
“In relation to Mr Sylla, you’ve said that Mr Munday was one of the males in the carriage, that’s it – he was on that carriage.
“He wasn’t seen to push anyone, and he wasn’t seen to be with anyone who was pushing.
“His lips weren’t moving and there’s no suggestion of that in your statement.”
Barklie, of Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland; Callis, of North London; Munday, of Sidcup, South East London; Parsons, of Dorking, Surrey; and Simpson, of Ashford, Surrey, are all fighting the ban.
Breaching a football banning order is a criminal offence punishable by a maximum sentence of six months in prison.
The hearing continues.