England fan sentenced for racist graffiti

An England cricket fan has been sentenced for scrawling racist graffiti on the seats at the Newlands ground in Cape Town.

Matthew Weller, 33, from Wolverhampton, will either spent six months in jail, or pay £356 to compensate the Western Province Cricket Association, who maintain the ground. He had pleaded guilty to malicious damage to property. The magistrates' court in Cape Town heard that he had used black felt-pen to scribble racist slogans and swastikas on 17 seats in the presidential pavilion at Newlands on Monday, the second day of the third Test between South Africa and England.

The prosecutor, Catherine Putter, had told the court that the floodlights were turned on at the end of the day - costing the Newlands ground authorities £1000 - so that police could take photographs of the damage. A further £365 was spent on cleaning and staff costs relating to the graffiti.

Putter said that the Newlands authorities had banned Weller from the rest of the Cape Town Test, and she had been instructed by them to seek a compensation order against him for the full £1365.

At Weller's first appearance earlier this week, JD Kotze, the presiding magistrate, had ordered that he make a public apology at Newlands while the Test was in progress, but this was rejected by the cricket authorities, as they felt it could "sour the game".

In a letter to them instead, Weller indicated his regret: "I am extremely sorry for any offence caused to the staff and patrons of the ground who may have witnessed the act, or those involved in the cleaning operation," it read. "I wholly regret my actions, which were totally out of character and promise that I shall never again act in this manner."

Weller was an independent traveller, and not part of the Barmy Army.