A North Yorkshire man has been found guilty after sending a racist and offensive email to Gareth Southgate targeting his players taking the knee.

Brian Martin, 36, from Selby, has been found guilty at York Magistrates' Court of sending an offensive or indecent message to England manager Gareth Southgate referring to his players and criticising his decisions.

The email used messages of a racist nature to refer to players of colour in the team and was sent immediately after England's loss to Hungary in the Nations League (June 4).

Adam Featherstone, Senior Crown Prosecutor, called the contents of Martin's email racist and said the verdict serves as a reminder this behaviour will not be tolerated.

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In a statement, he said: “The content of this message was not only grossly offensive but racist.

"Martin now has a criminal record to show for it, which is likely to impact his life and future prospects.

“This result sends a clear message, that racist language in any form will not be tolerated and the CPS will not hesitate to prosecute these offences whenever our legal test is met.”

In the email, Marting criticised the England manager for decisions he had taken and for defeats the team had suffered.

Adding to this, he also objected to the team’s decision to “take the knee” in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Martin accepted ahead of trial that he sent the email but denied its contents were offensive or indecent.

Douglas Mackay, CPS national sports lead, said: “Hate crime has no place within society let alone sport.

“At the World Cup, we hope the England and Wales teams do their countries proud.

"However, fans must not let their passion overspill into racial abuse of players for what they do on the pitch, like we saw overshadow Euro 2020.

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“If you see, read or hear of any offensive racist and homophobic language, during the World Cup or after, please report it to the police who will investigate.

"The law has been extended so those who abuse players online face being banned from watching football, and we will use these powers to those who we prosecute.”

This is not the first time England's footballers have been subjected to racist abuse, with star players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka targeted online after last year's Euros final.

The England national team adopted taking the knee as a way of showing their opposition to racism in football and signal inclusivity.

They took the knee on the same day Martin's guilty verdict was delivered, beating Iran 6-2.

Martin will be sentenced on Tuesday, December 13.

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