Antisemitic Arsenal supporter handed three-year ban and £470 in fines
An Arsenal supporter who shouted “Hitler should have finished the job” has been banned from football games for three years and ordered to pay £471 in fines.
Daniel Down, 29, pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court for using threatening, abusive, distressing words in Arsenal’s match against arch-rivals Tottenham on 15 January 2023.
Tottenham’s Jewish origins are well-known, and earlier this year Arsenal launched a new affiliate called ‘Jewish Gooners’, partly in response to antisemitism from some of its supporters.
The charges, which were racially or religiously aggravated, were brought against him by the Crown Prosecution Service.
The victim, who reported the incident to police, told Down that he took “great offence” at the comments and explained that members of his family had died in the Holocaust. Down apologised to the victim immediately and attended a police interview without legal counsel.
Sentencing, the Judge said Down’s comments were “egregious in the extreme,” adding: “You ought to have known better.” The total of £471 in fines includes a victim surcharge of £110.
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