Liam Stacey Apologises For Racist Tweets Abusing Fabrice Muamba

The Huffington Post UK  |  By Posted: Updated: 23/05/2012 15:27

Liam Stacey, who was jailed for posting racist remarks on Twitter about Fabrice Muamba, has apologised.

Speaking to BBC Wales' Week In Week Out programme, the student claims he has paid a huge price for his drunken outbursts, made after Bolton midfielder Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest against Tottenham Hotspur on 17 March.

Stacey, who claimed his actions were "just drunken stupidity", was served a 56-day prison term for a racially aggravated public order offence.

"What I struggle to get my head around was the week or two before I was just a normal kid getting on with my work in university, getting on with life, playing rugby with all my mates, then a week or two later I was just going to prison, everything had been turned upside down," he said.

"It was a stupid, massive, massive mistake and I've paid a big price for it.

Muamba was discharged from the London Chest Hospital 30 days after he was admitted on St Patrick's Day, when his heart stopped working independently for 78 minutes.

The 24-year-old is continuing his recovery at his Cheshire home, however Stacey's future remains uncertain.

Swansea University suspended him pending the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings, as it remains unknown whether it will allow him to finish his degree course there.

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Liam Stacey, who was jailed for posting racist remarks on Twitter about Fabrice Muamba, has apologised. Speaking to BBC Wales' Week In Week Out programme, the student claims he has paid a huge pric...
Liam Stacey, who was jailed for posting racist remarks on Twitter about Fabrice Muamba, has apologised. Speaking to BBC Wales' Week In Week Out programme, the student claims he has paid a huge pric...
 
 
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Raymond Soltysek
04:38 PM on 05/22/2012
I can see rationalisation ("everything had been turned upside down"), self-pity ("I've paid a big price for it") and an attempt to downplay what he did ("just drunken stupidity"): I don't actually see the word "sorry" anywhere.
majdf18148
I have nothing to declare but my curiosity
12:39 PM on 05/22/2012
Racism is bad. It is illegal and rightly so. I wonder only if justice was best served in this case. Was it dispensed fairly, proportionately to the level of the crime committed? The twitter post, as I understand it, was offensive, racist and illegal but did it deserve a 56 day jail sentence? Drunkeness is no excuse for breaking the law and shouldn't enter into the discussion but I question the sentence when judged against other sentences for "crimes against the person". Stacey's words will have appalled and upset a number of people, many will have been offended and angry, but noone was threatened, intimidated or physically hurt as I understand it. In my opinion he should have been given a community service order working in a multi ethnic environment, made to post a grovelling apology on Twitter and left it at that. His jail sentence served no good purpose and was DISproportionate in my opinion. I am pleased to read of his contrition.
04:23 PM on 05/22/2012
Actually, drunkenness is an excuse for breaking the law if you're a black muslim in the case of three racist thugs who attacked a white girl.
majdf18148
I have nothing to declare but my curiosity
05:44 PM on 05/22/2012
I hear you Clarks0n, perhaps I should have said in most circumstances.But I get your point fully!
11:03 AM on 05/22/2012
He shouldn't apologise, he should stick to his guns and continue his appeals, it makes a mockery of the legal system that he was going to jail in the first place, it was just a token sentence because it was a famous black person he was insulting. Anyone saying anything about a non-ethnic non-celebrity wouldn't even get a caution letter from the police, more likely the person reporting it would be cautioned for wasting police time.
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vividrick
I came, I saw...I had a cup of tea!
03:35 PM on 05/22/2012
Don't you understand the evils of racism? I'm guessing not.
04:19 PM on 05/22/2012
You mean how racism only works one way? Or how it unjustifiable makes some crimes more serious than others? E.g. an attack or murder isn't as important is if there wasn't a racial element. Or maybe just plain how it is used as a controlling card that only results in discrimination itself.
Different races have different attributes and cultures not everyone likes that and not everyone gets along. Go on any forum or twitter on the internet and you can insult someone on grounds of weight, religion, education, nationality, age, gender, but you get sent to jail for telling someone to go pick cotton? Technically only a fellow 'racist' would interpret that as being an insult to black people by making the assumption it is linking a small historic period of slavery to black people..
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Euroview
12:09 AM on 05/23/2012
Ignore him, he has a history of this type of rant with race being the common factor.