Originally Posted by
KerrAvon
It is not unlawful per se to make offensive chants. The only law that might come close is section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 which makes it an offence to use threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress.
Are Rotherham supporters likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress by this chanting? I would think that mild irritation, boredom or indifference are more likely responses, none of which would be enough to create criminal liability.
I agree with your point about the possibility of a victim or one of their relatives hearing the chanting. One assumes that the people doing the chanting either haven’t thought about that or don’t care – they use the abuse scandal to their own ends, which is not unusual.
At the risk of sounding prissy and not defending it in any way, I would say that it’s simply the nature of a significant proportion of football supporters to behave in this way. We get the p@edo chant, people from Nottinghamshire get the scab chant, Man U still get the ‘who’s that dying on the runway’ song, Bradford get ‘you’re just a town full of p@kis’ etc.
I recall an away game at Peterborough a few seasons ago when a - ahem - ‘former leading poster on this site’ and his chums gave appalling abuse towards a fairly young female member of the Peterborough ground staff who had the misfortune to have to walk past the front of the away stand. It was shameful and I was far more concerned about that than I have ever been at the p@edo chant.