Wolves fan Jamie Arnold has been jailed for six months and was given a seven year banning order after being found guilty of racially abusing former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand.
We interviewed PC Stuart Ward, of West Midlands Police, about the case.
We interviewed PC Stuart Ward, of West Midlands Police, about the case.
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00:00 PC 21522 Ward, I'm based on the West Midlands Police Force for the Force Football Unit based
00:07 at Halzone Police Station. The incident relates back to May 2021, it was Wolverhampton Wondras
00:14 v Manchester United, it was a Premier League fixture played at the Molineux which is home
00:19 of Wolverhampton Wondras FC. The game started with a lot of optimism, people were back inside
00:28 the ground after Covid, limited numbers, social distancing and there was a good feel about
00:34 the game. The Wolves manager was present for his last game for the football club but unfortunately
00:44 the game changed very quickly and one individual, Jamie Arnold, started to hold racist abuse
00:51 and gestures towards Riyad Ferdinand who was working for BT Sports which is now TNT Sports
01:00 in the gantry. This was witnessed by numerous supporters that were in the ground, stewards
01:08 and close protection officers who reported it to the football club and the police. That
01:13 allowed Jamie Arnold to be identified quickly and he was arrested and taken into police
01:19 custody. How did Riyad Ferdinand's willingness to give evidence help the case? Again, really
01:28 important that he was willing to give a statement to the police along with all the other witnesses
01:34 that had seen and heard what Jamie Arnold had done. We thank every one of those witnesses
01:42 including Riyad Ferdinand because without those statements and those individuals providing
01:48 evidence it makes it even harder to get a successful outcome at court.