The university student who posted shocking racist internet messages after footballer Fabrice Muamba collapsed with heart failure has been jailed today.
Liam Stacey, from Pontypridd, south Wales, admitted making the comments on Twitter and was sent to prison for 56 days.
His posts were forwarded to police by disgusted fellow users and the 21-year-old undergraduate could also be thrown off his biology degree course after his fellow students launched a campaign to have him kicked out.
His tweets – which started with ‘LOL [laugh out loud]. **** Muamba. He’s dead!!!’ – also provoked widespread revulsion and a furious reaction from several Premier League stars.
Sobbing and shaking as he was taken away in handcuffs this morning, Stacey was briefly hugged by friends and his parents.
Jailing him District Judge John Charles said: 'In my view there is no alternative to an immediate prison sentence.
When Muamba collapsed, 'it was not the football world who was praying for him... everybody was praying for his life,' he said.
Judge Charles added that his 'vile and abhorrent' comments instigated many other abusive tweets aimed at poor Fabrice Muamba.
Bolton player Muamba was gravely ill after collapsing during a FA Cup tie between his side and Tottenham.
The 23-year-old’s condition is improving and he is now walking and watching TV, but as he lay in intensive care clinging to life the insensitive tweets caused outrage.
Stacey's sentence prompted a heated debate on Twitter.
Among those applauding the judge's decision was Lord Sugar, who tweeted: 'good job, be warned idiots'.
Others claimed the decision was too harsh given the student's previously clean criminal record.
But Jim Brisbane, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Wales, said racist language was inappropriate in any setting and through any media.
'We hope this case will serve as a warning to anyone who may think that comments made online are somehow beyond the law,' he added.
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