Student charged over racist Collymore Twitter abuse

Will he be kicked out of uni?

Completely inappropriate to post his name on here.

What does it matter? His name’s going to be all over the back pages tomorrow.

@Alex

He has been charged now so it is generally considered to be a newspaper’s responsibility to report it – it’s in the public domain now. Any other alleged criminal would be named in the press at this stage, why should he be any different?

His email and mobile number are all over twitter. I’d hate to be in his shoes #barca-law-na

Absolutely disgusting that his name has been posted

This lad’s case is now going to be publicly compromised, and his university/professional career tarnished forever before it’s even been heard by magistrates.

Shows a bigger problem with our press too, all to eager to name and shame alleged criminals before they’ve been tried. Anyone remember the sordid press against someone alleged of Jo Yates’ murder?

@Anom: “His name and reputation will now be in tatters as a result of the courier”.

Are you serious? The police have named him. He’s due up in court. BBC, Sky News and the Press Association have all written about him. Do you really believe The Courier is to blame?!

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16144538
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-16455531
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5i4-CUem6CFQCKJTfLUESJKtb7Txw?docId=N0849191325951509209A

@Anom the names of Stephen Lawerence’s murderers were in the public domain for over a decade prior to their conviction – when they were still innocent in the eyes of the law – so on the basis of that this case should not be any different.

@anon

1. Done something I now regret whilst drunk? Yes. Sent racial abuse on twitter? No.

2. The people at the Courier are at the Courier to post news. Why would they not do that?

Comparing racism to something funny we’ve done at 4 in the morning? Well, let’s just say they’re not even in the same ball park.

Collymore’s within his right to report these comments to the police when they’ve been made in the public domain.

Why shouldn’t The Courier report on something that’s public news and concerns our university and its reputation?

Whether or not he gets kicked out, a criminal record will mean Josh won’t be able to practice law anyway…

I don’t understand all the people saying that it is wrong to have is name published. Sky News and BBC reported the incident and included his name and the fact he was a Jesmond Resident also. People don’t seem to be angry at the fact his e-mail and number were plastered across twitter by a number of people as well.

@Anom: “His name and reputation will be now be in tatters because of the Courier”

What about Sky News, The Daily Mirror and probably the national news tomorrow

How is that Suarez has been found guilty of a racist offence but not been charged by the police? Whereas this lad could have been hacked etc and has to go to court?

Its a student paper and big story about a student of course they’re going to name him people have a right to know.

@smizzle – Think it’s because Suarez incident was never reported to police. Terry’s is being investigated because QPR and Anton Ferdinand reported it to police. Liverpool fan last night has been arrested because it was reported.

A number of national newspapers and news outlets including BBC and Sky had already published his name before The Courier did, it is not as if they broke the story. They are here to report the news, and this is news concerning a student at Newcastle University.

As for Stan Collymore’s reaction to the tweets, he has been a victim of racial abuse in the past via Twitter and the police have done nothing about it. Maybe it took a phone call from him to get their attention.

A few replies: I felt for the guy in Sheffield that urinated on the war memorial because it seemed like he had no control of what he was doing and was led there by ‘mates’, and felt the media lynch mob was appalling. I don’t think this guy deserves the media lynch mob either, but he deserves to be charged if guilty, deserves to be caught for doing it to someone so much in the public eye and deserves to get kicked out of uni for bringing the universitys name into disrepute,

As if someone is saying he could have been “egged on by others”!? The fact that you think this a possibility is jsut shocking. Why would any group of friends egg someone on to post racist abuse to someone? And if you think this a possibility you should definitely change your group of friends…

The courier are allowed to post the name just as much as all the other news agencies have (he’s been charged). The person that compared it to the joanna yates case obviously didn’t catch the ‘charged’ part.

Suarez was found guilty (by the FA) because evra was seen to have a more reliable version of the events. There wasn’t really any ‘evidence’ apart from one person disagreeing with what the other had said. There would not be enough evidence to criminally charge him, just as there isn’t enough evidence to prove him innocent, because very little evidence was used to find him guilty.

Being drunk is no excuse for being racist, and we don’t fully know the circumstances anyway. Who goes on Twitter when inebriated anyway?

As if people are saying “his rep will be in tatters” SO WHAT! Firstly, nowhere in media Law does it not say you cant name a person convicted of this sort of thing.

He’s not convicted he’s charged….and that, for some people, along with the media is a green light to rip into him (and anyone else charged…awaiting court proceedings).

Not the courier obv, but you can imagine the Daily Mail is hurriedly trawling thru his background to dig up some extra dirt on him!

Let the courts deal the justice rather than let the media lynch him.

One more thing:

A guy recently got 4.5 years in prison, he walked past a black guy in the street and called him a ‘Ni-’ then threw his drink over him. The black guy turned out to be an OFF-DUTY police officer. Hence the severity of his punishment. Still churns out to be mild verbal abuse and minimal property damage to the guys clothes perhaps.

Another guy recently got 3.5 years for breaking a young mothers back in an argument over a spilled drink. She was left paralysed.

Wheres the justice in that?

@Matt – the difference between ‘name-calling’ and racism is that racist terms such as ‘coon’ (used in the offending tweet) are ingrained with hundreds of years of prejudice, discrimination and hatred. Believe me, it’s the not the national and student press that have potentially ruined this guy’s reputation, it’s his own twitter feed. Whatever comes of the case, it was well within Stan Collymore’s rights to report racist abuse to the police, and I’m sure many would agree that he was right to do so. As far as ‘turning the other cheek’, as you put it, it’s this attitude which makes it seem acceptable for this kind of language to be used and these sorts of incidents to happen.

Had to post this twice i included a naughty word in my first post #easilydone.

@Matt – I agree that the sentences given out are disproportionate to other crimes.
If someone stabbed someone there would be less of a backlash.

Sticks and Stones may hurt my bones but names will never hurt me

Every person that has commented saying how awful this is, has made a racist joke or laughed at one, with no intention to hating someone because of the colour of their skin.

@All the comment that said his name shouldn’t be published.

Lets be honest, his twitter name JoshCryer1 may have given that away, he agreed to have that name made public when he posted the comment.

Are people seriously comparing a racist joke made in private to actually sending racial abuse to somebody?

regardless

the motive for this was Collymore saying Suarez was guilty. Collymore did not allow for the presumption of innocence. Collymore & others at talksport took the PC way out and behaved abominably

there may be a backlash against blacks due to gaol sentences and so on

I think the authorities better wake up

Yesah, anyone that has told a racist joke is as bad as racially abusing someone. What planet are some of you on?

Racist jokes (like any other form of black humour) play on the taboo of a certain topic to gain their humour.

Racially abusing someone is a criminal offence.

And to the ‘PC GONE MAD!!!’ comments: a lot of this is brought up by generally exagerrated or flat out false stories in the tabloids (shopping centres banning christmas due to muslims being offended, baa baa black sheep being banned because it is deemed offensive etc). Racially abusing someone is on a completely different level. Yes there are disproportionate sentences for certain crimes, but that’s not the issue.

The last comment from Rory has it spot on. Some of the comments on here – presumably from university students – regarding race are scary.

Sarah’s assertion that “every person that has commented saying how awful this is, has made a racist joke or laughed at one, with no intention to hating someone because of the colour of their skin” is worrying. Worrying that she thinks making racist jokes is a normal thing that everyone does and that everyone laughs at them. It’s absolutely not true that EVERYONE makes racist jokes and EVERYONE laughs at them.

Good on Stan Colleymore for reporting this matter with the police because it highlights what a big problem racism in our society still is.

Those who have commented earlier arguing that naming the student will ruin his reputation are deluded. The media should report on it because we have an open justice system.

@ Matt… i think you’ll find that the nice chap who threw a drink over the off duty officer before shouting out of the car window at him was David Norris… very recently jailed for killing Stephen Lawrence…

I’m disappointed by the attitudes of young ‘educated’ people in these comments – University is not the place I expect to find this type of lazy prejudice.

I am appalled to see comments implying that ‘everyone’ makes racist jokes in private, laughs at them or fails to call people on it if they hear them. It is completely unacceptable at all times by any person ever.

Racism is Apartheid and 27 years in Jail for Nelson Mandela. Racism is 400 years of slavery. Racism is the Murder of Stephen Lawrence, Anthony Walker, and Martin Luther KIng. Racism is rape, mutilation maiming and death. Racism is hanging black people from trees. Racism is denying the holocaust. Racism is colonialism.

rac·ism is

noun
1.
a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2.
a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3.
hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

Racism is telling a racist joke in public or in private, racismis using racial language to define another human being.

Racism is all these things.

Don’t kid yourself it is OK on any level, don’t justify or be an apologist for it or the people who perpetrate it. It is not harmless or funny or in any way acceptable and don’t be so ignorant of the world around you. It is not 1970 and you should all know better. You shame yourselves, you really do.

Maybe this is because I just yesterday found out about the guy in 2006 who called for ‘extermination of white people’ on live TV and nothing happened to him, but I don’t see what’s wrong with this. Am I missing something? All I can see is he called him neither white nor black – so? Maybe he IS neither white nor black. What’s wrong with referring to it? And the Cooneymore thing I don’t understand either.

Maybe I am missing something important, but it doesn’t look that bad to me. It just looks a bit childish, like a kid calling another kid ginger or blonde.

Calling Collymore a coon is just like a kid calling someone ginger or blonde.

I kind of see where yo… WAIT WHAT!? Are you serious?

Some of the views expressed in the comments above are absolutely unbelievable. I have no connection with Newcastle Uni but if these minds are representative of what the university produces then I’m glad I didn’t mess up my A-levels and end up there.

If you seriously think that calling someone a coon is on par with referring to someone by the colour of their hair then you’re an appalling human being… or perhaps all of the above where just posted by Josh Cryer.

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