A football supporter who posted offensive social media messages referencing the Hillsborough disaster, in the wake of the death of an opposing fan during a match, has told a court he wanted to apologise for the “upset and anger” he has caused. Richard Crisp posted the message on X, formerly Twitter, after the death of West Brom fan Mark Townsend at Hillsborough stadium, in Sheffield, on September 28.
Sheffield Wednesday fan Crisp, 55, appeared at the city’s magistrates’ court on Monday, where he was sentenced to a 12-month community order. Magistrates heard that one of the posts said: “Another one to add to the Leppings Lane tally. What are we at now 98? When we get to 100 we’ll have a party. Up the Owls.”.
This was a reference to the 97 people who died after the crush at the Leppings Lane end of the ground in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Louise Brown, representing Crisp, read an apology from a letter her client sent to the court, which said: “I wish to apologise unreservedly to all the people I have affected and for the upset and anger I have caused.”.
She said the letter acknowledged that what he had written on X was “derogatory, hurtful, distressing and disrespectful” to fans of both West Brom and Liverpool football clubs. Mrs Brown described how Crisp was suffering from depression at the time of the posts and had been drinking, telling the court he was under a lot of stress.
The solicitor said he used alcohol as a coping mechanism. She said that within 24 hours of his arrest he had lost the project manager job he had been doing for more than 20 years, was expelled from his golf club and given a lifetime ban by Sheffield Wednesday.
