Four Chelsea football fans have been convicted of racist violence and handed suspended prison sentences for attacking a black commuter on the Paris Métro in 2015. The incident took place before a Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain, with the group chanting racist slogans as the victim was pushed from a carriage.
The victim, Souleymane Sylla, a 35-year-old Parisian salesman, told the court his life had been "shaken up" by the assault. He said he had stopped working for periods, avoided the Métro for nine months and required medication. Speaking outside court, the father of four said he was "glad to see justice done" after waiting two years.
Joshua Parsons, 22, from Dorking, Surrey, was given an eight-month suspended sentence. He admitted pushing Sylla but denied the act was racist, claiming he had only been aware of Sylla's skin colour after seeing video footage. His lawyer said Parsons had lost his London finance job and retrained as a scaffolder in Cornwall, and that former boarding school friends who were not white had testified to his character.
James Fairbairn, 25, a civil engineer from Kent, received a six-month suspended sentence for making a hand gesture indicating Sylla's skin colour. He denied the accusation. The two other men, William Simpson, 37, from Ashford, and Richard Barklie, a former Northern Ireland police officer, were tried in their absence.
The four were ordered to pay €10,000 in total to Sylla. The French prosecutor called the case a "clear-cut example" of racism, noting the rarity of such an openly violent racist attack accompanied by chanting. The video, filmed by British man Paul Nolan, was published by the Guardian and sparked widespread condemnation.
