Middlesbrough fan banned for making ‘monkey gestures’ at Blackburn footballers

A Middlesbrough fan has been found guilty of making monkey gestures at black Blackburn Rovers players after one of them scored a controversial goal against his team in a Championship match.

Goult said he was making a well-known Teesside gesture meaning “it’s the pits”.

He denied two public offences – one racially aggravated – but was found guilty at Teesside Magistrates’ Court by district judge Stephen Harmes following a day-long trial.

He said: ‘On the way to our fans I see a Middlesbrough fan making monkey gestures towards me.’.

Blackburn player Lee Williamson told the court it happened after Rovers scored a 94th-minute equaliser.

Goult, of Redcar, had denied a racially aggravated public order offence and an alternative charge of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour.

Gestede, in evidence, said he spotted the gesture and walked towards the stand before mimicking the behaviour, using two arms, to alert his teammates of the abuse.

Goult is also said to have made a “w*****” sign towards the players 10 or more times.

‘I felt upset, ‘ Williamson said.

Pc Christopher Hilton said he saw the gesture first-hand and believed it to be “racist”.

He said: “He was shouting and doing the gesture”.

When asked by Goult’s solicitor Amy Dixon whether he was certain they were monkey gestures rather than gestures implying the players were the pits, he simply replied “yes”.

He agreed with Mr Power that he was the “pantomime villain” after his injury time goal that deprived Middlesbrough of two points.

Olsson told the court: “It was like a monkey gesture and he wasn’t trying to hide it”. I have seen it before.

The player said he was not concerned about the w***** gesture. “It’s something we see every week”, he added.

“We will now seek to arrange a meeting with Mr Goult to review the case before deciding on further action”.

PC Swales, 55, worked in industry for 13 years before working for the police, had attended more than 700 Middlesbrough matches in a 16 year police career, and had been attending as a fan since the early 1970s.

“When I Googled it, nothing came back in relation to a Teesside gesture – the pits”.

Goult said what he did was an “old Teesside gesture”. He said: “Not in the slightest, I could have received a caution and it could have gone on my record”.

A club spokesman said: “Middlesbrough Football Club has never hesitated to take strong and decisive action with supporters who have been identified as participating in racist incidents, and will continue to do so”.

“Let me get this clear from the start, this trial is not about whether Ernest Goult is racist, it’s about whether he indulged in racist behaviour”, he said.

He said: “I just wanted to convey to them what an unsatisfactory point they’d earned”.