Jury retires to consider verdict in Rio Ferdinand racial abuse case

The jury in the case of a 32-year-old man accused of racially abusing Rio Ferdinand at Wolves vs Manchester United in May 2021 has retired to consider its verdict.

The judge, Her Honour Rhona Campbell, has called upon the jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court to return a unanimous verdict on a charge of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress.

That charge is denied by Jamie Arnold from Norton Bridge in Staffordshire.

The judge told the jury in her summing up of the case:

"It is not necessary that Mr Ferdinand saw the racist gestures himself. You must be satisfied that there was a direct causal connection, however, so that such gestures or words caused Mr Ferdinand harassment, alarm or distress."

She also said: "It is your decision whether or not Jamie Arnold's refusal to give evidence or answer police questions when interviewed, should count against him."

Jason Ariss summing up the prosecution's case, said:

"You have heard from four individuals who saw the defendant making racist gestures and he aimed that towards the BT Sport gantry. None of those witnesses had reason to lie. These four individuals didn't know each other, and all commented independently on what they saw - which was seeing the defendant perform in a racist manner, by performing this gesture.

"Mr Ariss also said that the defendant had shouted a racial slur. When you hear that in conjunction with the gestures, the intention was very clear. It was clearly aimed towards Mr Ferdinand.

"It clearly upset and affected him [Ferdinand] and is an unpleasant, upsetting, derogatory and offensive gesture."

For the defence, Andrew Baker said to the jury of 11 men and women:

"We have moved on a great deal from the horrible situations we saw in football stadiums up and down the country, some years ago. To be called a racist is a huge stigma, akin to being called a pervert, and so the decision you make today may well be the most important one for Mr Arnold. You must be sure of what he did.

"Can you be sure of each person's evidence? Can you be sure it points all in the direction of the guilt of the defendant? People's recollections can vary, memory is not infallible. People often like to think the worst. If they see someone behaving obnoxiously, it may have ruined their day."

Mr Baker then played the full 15 minutes of CCTV footage again. He asked the jury to consider whether in fact what they saw was a racist gesture aimed at Rio Ferdinand, or whether it could have instead been just a man scratching while talking to his father next to him.

"It may well be that Mr Arnold is someone you would not wish to come across. It may be that you find him rather unpleasant, or offensive. But that is not the issue here.

"Crucially, Rio Ferdinand didn't see it. Can you be sure that what he was told by the security guard, was accurate?

"If you are not sure, you must return a verdict of not guilty."

In giving evidence earlier in the week, Rio Ferdinand told the court, when asked how he felt when he was told the gestures that had been directed towards him: "It makes you feel sick, yeah.

"You don't expect to receive that treatment when you go to a football match," Ferdinand explained. "But especially because of the circumstances - the first time we'd been back in a football stadium. There was a lot of excitement in the stadium, but that quickly turned to something else."