What a shame the media frenzy that ensued in the wake of the witch hunt and subsequent convictions of a 42 yr old long-standing Spurs season ticket holder Ian Trow and his 14 yr old son hasn't extended to reflect this conviction being quashed.
We all know by now that the sensationalist media went into virtual meltdown in its haste to brand the 16 Spurs fans identified by the Hampshire police (out of the 2500 present) as "racist and homophobic". The "racist" part of that charge was soon dropped in favour of the latter as soon as they realised they had jumped the gun (as usual). We all know the media (in particular the red tops) are 90% sound bite and 10% substance at best.
This drama all unfolded after the game between Portsmouth and Spurs on the 28th September 2008 where Sol Campbell himself and (supposedly) Portsmouth fans complained about the chanting directed toward the player himself. It even led the now Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp to quote;
"How do you do that in front of your kids? What kind of a nutter must you be? What kind of human being must you be when you take your little kids to football and shout filth? It can't be right".
Nothing like kicking a man when he is down. Not only had he already been deemed a racist and a homophobe in the eyes of the media, he was also accused of being a bad father.
The pictures of the Spurs 16 were shown all over the media and even on the government's own Crimestoppers website where they made the number 1 spot in the list of the nations "most wanted". They even managed to knock armed bank robbers and rapists off the top spot. Glad to see the government didn't get caught up in all the hype.
Eleven of the 16 Spurs fans subsequently made themselves known to the Hampshire police. Later 4 were to plead guilty of indecent chanting and 7 not guilty. The seven that pleaded not guilty were automatically banned by Spurs and had their season tickets revoked despite not having been convicted of any crime. These seven fans were then offered police cautions of which 5 accepted under pressure from the police to halt both threats of court appearances and the media attention. Ian Trow and his son stuck their guns in the belief they were innocent of any wrongdoing after which they were offered a reprimand which they again declined.
In May, Ian and his son, despite there being no evidence to support the charge, were found guilty under the premise that "we can prove these chants were sung, we can prove you attended the match, therefore you must have been singing these songs".
This was to all intents and purposes a show trial, in front of national media (having been invited by the Police). Ian and his son were given 3 year football banning orders and of course, his photograph splashed all over the tabloids.
Last week they had a full re-trial at Portsmouth Crown Court in front of the most senior judge in Hampshire. After the prosecution showed their evidence the judge, after a mere 2 minutes of deliberation and before the defence had even put their case, came to the conclusion they were "Not guilty and had no case to answer". The judge then went on to reprimand the CPS over the fact the case had even been brought into his courtroom. All costs were awarded to Ian Trow.
The Media silence is deafening. The press maxim "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story" appears to hold a true as ever.
**This blog post has been edited for publication by admin**