City, London student facing jail after hurling racist abuse at Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka

A student from London’s City University is facing jail after allegedly hurling racist abuse at Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka.

Suhel Ali, 20 is alleged to have written a racist tweet and recorded an audio message about the England forward following Arsenal’s 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in May 2023.

In the audio message which was posted to X, Ali calls Saka a “fucking black piece of shit”. He also described his as “the shittest winger I’ve ever seen at my club”.

In court, Ali admitted to sending an offensive message.

According to The Sun, District Judge Briony Clarke bailed him until 8th October, saying: “I’m not going to sentence you today — but I’m not ruling anything out.”

The tweets came after Arsenal lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest, a game which secured Forest’s position in the Premier League, but prevented The Gunners from coming top of the table.

Ali was tracked down by police with the help of his mother and by using his IP address. She spoke to officers and also provided his email address.

Westminster Magistrate’s Court heard how Ali said he wrote the abuse out of frustration and it was not intended to be racist.

Defending, Robert Moxton explained that Ali, like Saka, is of Nigerian descent, and told the court that writing those words was a spur of the moment decision.

He said: “He used the N-word in that tweet but he’s using that not in a racial context but in an offensive context.”

However, the judge responded: ““What about ‘monkey’, though?’”

The Sun reported that Mr Moxton, after receiving instruction from the defendant then said Ali was trying to “suggest that Saka is dumb”.

He continued by saying: “He was just firing off some really stupid, offensive remarks about how a footballer played.”

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