A former Royal Marine, acquitted by a jury in just 17 minutes on a charge of inciting racial hatred, has been banned from coaching his daughter's football team after a safeguarding panel ruled against him.
From Courtroom Acquittal to Coaching Ban
Jamie Michael, a 47-year-old Iraq war veteran from Penygraig in south Wales, was charged following a 12-minute Facebook video he posted in July last year. In the clip, made as riots spread after the Southport murders, he described some migrants as 'scumbags' and 'psychopaths'.
Despite being unanimously found not guilty at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on February 4, a child protection concern was raised against him. Less than two weeks after his acquittal, the Cwm Taf Morgannwg safeguarding board informed him the concern had been 'substantiated' by unanimous agreement.
A 'Horrible Feeling' and a Legal Battle
Following a private meeting involving a Football Association of Wales safeguarding officer and South Wales Police, Mr Michael was barred from his voluntary coaching role. He coached his daughter's under-15s side and another team one day a week.
'It makes no sense,' Mr Michael told The Telegraph. 'It just seems to me they want to punish me because of my opinions and because my views don’t align with theirs.' He said it was a 'horrible feeling' telling people about the ban, fearing they would assume he was a 'pervert' or had been 'violent to children'.
The father-of-two is now suing the authorities for £25,000 and has gone public to ensure his community in the Rhondda Valley does not mistake him for a paedophile.
Free Speech Campaigners Sound the Alarm
The ruling has prompted significant concern from free speech organisations. The Free Speech Union (FSU) claims it has identified more than a dozen cases where safeguarding laws, established after the 2002 Soham murders, are being used to 'silence' people with right-wing or 'patriotic views'.
Lord Young, the FSU's founder, stated: 'Citing safeguarding concerns to silence people you disagree with is a scandalous abuse of the system.' He confirmed the union has '15 people on our books' branded a risk to children due to their political opinions.
In his original Facebook video, titled 'This is what I think', Mr Michael urged people 'to get ready' but later stressed he meant organising peacefully, not violence. He admitted some views were expressed 'clumsily'. The video was reported to police by a staffer from the office of Welsh Labour Senedd member Buffy Williams.
Mr Michael was arrested on August 9 last year, held for three days, and denied bail despite a clean record aside from a driving offence 14 years prior. He said authorities suggested he had 'terrorism intentions'.
The veteran, who served in Iraq in 2003 and as a peacekeeper in Sierra Leone, remains optimistic the ban can be overturned. The Cwm Taf Morgannwg safeguarding board said it could not comment due to ongoing legal proceedings.
