I'm not trying to make him a martyr. But before everyone jumps on the bandwagon of applauding him being arrested under the jurisdiction of a loosely interpreted law. Take into consideration where the line is drawn. We the people are slowly having our civil liberties removed. It's not free speech if you're only allowed to say nice things. You all of everyone should distrust the law and the police for how they orchestrated the hillsbrough debacle. Yet now applaud the police applying a law to lock up someone for being a twat. Will frankie Boyle get locked up for offending people? That's what he does, offends people. As to him getting his head kicked in, I bet he does at some point soon.
Without a shadow of doubt. I understand the point you're making btw but I have little sympathy when people do such stupid things as this. What was he trying to achieve by wearing that garment?
Well there are plenty of twisted so called football fans out there. There used to be a Liverpool fan on here that spouted much the same against United. What he did to me is irrelevant to the application of a law which could essentially see us all locked up for offending each other. It's madness. People are applauding having our right to be twat taken away from us. What next, arresting hen parties for walking around town with a giant inflatable penis? We have a right to an opinion and a freedom to express it. Whether the opinion is right or wrong is irrelevant. My local paper has been updating this story constantly over the last few days on Facebook. One guy tonight has essentially said something similar to what I'm going on about who has then been trolled for it. The people trolling him clearly don't see the irony in their trolling. They can troll him and deride him as they have a freedom of expression to do so. What the guy actually said is what happens if the t shirt wearer gets hospitalised. What if he then tries to sue the paper for mustering up a hate campaign against him. What will their defence be?? Freedom of the press and freedom of expression yet him being arrested is irradicating that very thing.
Although the T-shirt was very offensive, the onus of proof for a criminal conviction is very high. I remember in the late 70's a girl was arrested and charged for wearing a Stiff records T-shirt with the motto "If it ain't Stiff it ain't worth a f**k" she was charged with a public decency offence, but got off as the onus of proof was to high. The extreme Muslims who burnt Poppies at a Poppy parade were also not charged, think that was in Luton. Very offensive to some, but apparently not enough offence to charge them.
I was thrown in the back of a police Sherpa van in the 80#s for wearing a "Atomkraft? Nein danke!" T-shirt during a CND rally in the 80's. I get the point that Sweats is making entirely. But be honest, the t-shirt worn by this guy was designed entirely to offend and provoke a reaction. I just think the best reaction is ridicule (and spamming! ) rather than violence.
@donga, in a way the words on the twats T-shirt amounted to violence on such an emotive subject, if he had for instance worn in Liverpool on a stag weekend he would have got hospitalised but he chose what he thought was a safe environment as far as he was concerned to wear it. Fair play to those that complained and to the manager of the pub, he wore it to get a reaction and if that reaction ended up in him needing to be fitted for new set of false teeth or having a few stitches somewhere on his head I'd have been equally as happy as i am with the ridicule and tons of sand and cement, bouncey castles, many pizzas and the massive Viagra order he received.
Apparently under the same law as this guy has been charged under. Another person was locked up for displaying a sign on his house saying 'no god botherers, an atheist lives here.' This law is being used against people for expressing an opinion. Right or wrong that's what it is. I'm sure I've seen a t shirt saying I hate gingers. Should that person get locked up? This guy is more than likely going to lose his job and I'd say that together with all the other **** been delivered to his house is punishment enough.
just a couple of thoughts some general some specific to the points you have raised 1. charged doesn't mean guilty 2. freedom of expression does not equate to the right to propogate hate crimes 3.Police cam arrest whoever they want doesn't mean CPS will prosecute (even when they should )
If he wants the right to wear a T-shirt bearing whatever words he chooses he has to also accept that his boss has the right to employ who he chooses? If for example he'd have been wearing a T-shirt with words in praise of Jimmy Savile would that be acceptable?, if so would the adverse and probably violent reaction to it be justified? Don't think there's ever been total freedom of speech sweats, its the content of the speech that dictates its freedom, like those who spoke up for the Nazis during world war two had the right to say it but were then in the eyes of the law guilty of treason etc.
It's not a hate crime. It's unnecessarily offensive. He probably thought it was funny. I've in the past made jokes about gassing Jews ffs. Whether he deserved to be charged cannot be determined by the number of people offended. It should be irrelevant. You're either allowed to have an opinion that may or may not be right and whether it's offensive again shouldn't matter. It's the principles behind the abuse of a law to arrest someone for being a prized twat.
They were as it goes. I've made jokes about all sorts of vile things. The right to be offended isn't mutually exclusive. You are taking what I'm saying out of context. We are getting into the realms of communism and nazism where we could be spied on by a neighbour and reported for doing saying or thinking something non conforming that could be deemed offensive by someone. The very thing the country fought for the right to express ourselves opinions without reprisal. Offending someone isn't a hate crime. If he travelled up to Liverpool and beat a scouser to the brink of death for being Liverpudlian that's a hate crime. Being a twat is not. Half the entire population get offended by Katie Hopkins on a daily basis. Has she been arrested for it? She gets her offensive ideas printed in a national paper. Anyway. I've made the point I was trying to make. Which is to try and get people to think before supporting a loosely interpreted law that can and is being used against people for far less offensive things than this idiot.
That's with respect got the cynical humour but a political statement. There is no political statement on this guy in question. The country decided that hate crimes are crimes so..... I hope he gets charged.
It's not a hate crime. Its someone being a stupid ****. As are these people. It's people being unnecessarily ****ing stupid.
The world is full of ****s. Sady not the useful type lol. 30 yrs ago before the ****ing internet was invented we used to deal with things the old way in given the twat a slap. He knew he done wrong and hopefully ****ing grew up and moved on. I think this is the point sweats is making? Trouble is nowadays there is no shame to ****ing anything sadly Respect your elders prob died a long time ago as well sadly.
@sweats the stupid people in the pic you posted are from Stoke on Trent, doesn't make it any less offensive to utd fans but it goes to show the hate for your club and ours goes way beyond the boundary of the clubs and the two cities. A sad reflection of modern society.
Both clubs have vile human beings who claim to support our great clubs. Rather do my talking on the pitch. 5 times you batards
