Racist Fabrice Muamba tweet lands British student in jail
Fabrice Muamba of Bolton Wanderers receives CPR on the pitch after suddenly collapsing during a soccer match against Tottenham Hotspur today in London.
After Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the soccer field, one student celebrated.
"LOL, F**k Muamba. He's dead," tweeted Liam Stacey, a 21-year-old student at Swansea University.
Other Twitter users criticized Stacey for his post, and he promptly responded with a series of racist and degrading tweets, ESPN reported. Stacey called his critics "wogs" and told them to "go pick some cotton," the Guardian reported.
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But Stacey's seemingly cheerful, cocky online persona was nowhere to be seen when he appeared in court, after he was arrested and sentenced to 56 days in jail for inciting racial hatred. "Stacey cried throughout the hearing and held his head in his hands when he was sentenced," the Guardian said.
Stacey at first tried to distance himself from the tweets by claiming his account was hacked, BBC News reported. He later tried to delete his Twitter page but was arrested at school the next day. After his arrest, he admitted to being drunk at the time of his tweets. He is now suspended from the university.
Muamba remains in intensive care. His heart stopped beating for 78 minutes after he collapsed during an FA Cup quarterfinal match on March 17.
"It was racist abuse via a social networking site instigated as a result of a vile and abhorrent comment about a young footballer who was fighting for his life," District judge John Charles told Stacey, according to the Guardian.