Everton fan sentenced over antisemitic insults at match against Tottenham

An Everton fan has been convicted over antisemitic insults at a football match against Tottenham Hotspur.

Neil McManniman, 46, was convicted of religiously aggravated harassment at Liverpool Crown Court and given a suspended nine-month prison sentence. He was also banned from football matches for five years, ordered to carry out fifteen days of rehabilitation activities and given a six-month alcohol treatment requirement.

Mr McManniman was found to have hurled a “torrent of foul abuse” towards Tottenham fans during a home match at Goodison Park on 7th November 2021.

He had seven previous offences, including a similar conviction involving the use of the n-word, for which he previously received a three-year banning order.

The antisemitic abuse reportedly included hissing sounds, commonly performed in imitation of the gas chambers at Nazi death camps.

He denied the charges but a jury took only half an hour to convict him.

Judge Brian Cummings KC described his behaviour as “outrageous” and said: “You have not learnt your lesson from your previous court experiences.” He added that Mr McManniman had denied the offence “and tried to lie your way out of it.”

He also observed of the defendant: “You were seen on a number of occasions standing and gesticulating at the away supporters while shouting antisemitic abuse and making loud hissing sounds which I am sure were intended to reference the gas chambers in the Holocaust.”

During the trial, the prosecutor recounted how a fellow Evertonian heard Mr McManniman’s antisemitic abuse, including phrases like “dirty Jews, dirty Yids”, and complained to a steward, who also heard him shouting remarks such as “f****** Jews”. He was then ejected from the stadium.

Tottenham Hotspur has long been associated with the Jewish community, and its fans are consequently often targeted by antisemitic abuse.

Counsel for Mr McManniman variously claimed that he had been drink – although the defendant had reportedly maintained otherwise in this trial – and that he lost sight in one eye after being attacked fifteen years ago and had not been able to work. Additionally, he was voluntarily engaging with agencies to assist with mental health problems and his mother had written a letter setting out his shame and remorse. The judge suspended his nine-month prison sentence for two years in view of the mental health mitigation.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This is a significant conviction, not only because it signals that there is no place for antisemitism in football, but also because it acknowledges that imitating the sound of gas chambers is a way of harassing Jewish people. This was recognised not merely by a judge but by a jury of ordinary people, who readily understand such conduct as antisemitic. Not only Tottenham fans but Everton supporters too will be reassured to find Neil McManniman banned from their stands for five years.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism continues to report on and act against instances of anti-Jewish racism in all sports.