Man pleads guilty to causing distress over offensive Hillsborough shirt at FA Cup final | UK News

James White, 33, wore a shirt that referred to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster to Manchester United’s FA Cup final against Manchester City on 3 June.

A man who wore an offensive shirt about the Hillsborough disaster to the FA Cup final chuckled in court as he was given a four-year football ban.

James White pleaded guilty to a charge of displaying threatening or abusive writing likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress at Willesden Magistrates’ Court, northwest London, on Monday.

The 33-year-old, from Warwickshire, was banned from all regulated football games in the UK for four years, fined £1,000 and ordered to pay court costs totalling £485.

He smiled and chuckled after the order was made.

White wore a shirt that referred to the Hillsborough disaster to Manchester United’s FA Cup final against rivals Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on 3 June.

The court heard he wore a Manchester United shirt with the number 97 with the words “Not Enough” on the back.

A total of 97 fans died as a result of a crush at a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield in 1989.

After White was arrested at Wembley Stadium, the court heard he was cautioned and told police: “You haven’t even asked me what the T-shirt means.

“My grandad died aged 97 and didn’t have enough kids.”

An inquest jury ruled in 2016 that the fans were unlawfully killed amid a number of police errors, but only one person has ever been convicted over the disaster – for a minor health and safety charge.

In March, fierce rivals Manchester United and Liverpool jointly called on fans to end “tragedy chanting” ahead of a Premier League match at Anfield.

The clubs issued a statement from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and his United counterpart Erik ten Hag calling for an end to chants and online abuse about tragedies such as Hillsborough and the Munich plane crash in 1958, which resulted in the deaths of 23 people, including eight United players.

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“It is unacceptable to use the loss of life – in relation to any tragedy – to score points, and it is time for it to stop,” ten Hag said.

“Those responsible tarnish not only the reputation of our clubs but also, importantly, the reputation of themselves, the fans, and our great cities.”

The rivalry is intense but should not cross the line, Klopp said.

“We do want the occasion to be partisan and we do want the atmosphere to be electric,” the Liverpool manager added.

“What we do not want is anything that goes beyond this, and this applies especially to the kind of chants that have no place in football.”