Fabrice Muamba/ Liam Stacey Case Study: Brief Summary.

Intention: High profile case, studied for the intention of the type of language used and subsequent consequences (hoping that examples – omitting names – will provoke different responses to that of the legal system of our country; and causing us to look at why).

Action: Liam Stacey tweeted “LOL f*** Muamba. He’s dead!!” along with a string of other offensive twitter posts on 17th March 2012, at a time where Fabrice Muamba, Bolton Football Club Player, was fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack during an FA cup quarter final.

Reaction/Legal Response: Liam Stacey, 21, a second year biology student at Swansea University, was found guilty of inciting racial aggravation, under the Public Order Act 1986 and sentenced to 56 days in prison.

As well as this he was suspended from his university degree, having to take his final exams a year late, and was banned from coming near the campus, as well as the privilege of a graduation being taken away from him.

Stacey pleaded guilty, admitting to using threatening, insulting words with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

Comments: Stacey’s solicitor said he had “foolishly lost his temper” at a time where the public at large were praying for Muamba’s recovery.

The district judge, John Charles, commented when sentencing that there was “no alternative to an immediate prison sentence”, as well as describing Stacey’s tweets as “vile and abhorrent”.

Stacey was quoted saying “I don’t know why I decided to tweet about it” claiming that he was intoxicated at the time.

Appeal from Stacey: Liam Stacey appealed for a reduced sentence, or community service, with his solicitor putting forth the point that he had suffered enough, and that what he said will remain “a blot on his character forever”.

Justice Wyn Williams rejected the appeal, saying very rarely had an individual attracted so many stigmas. Stacey had pleaded guilty to racially aggravated public disorder with intent. Williams believed that Stacey knew what he wanted to say and intended to provoke the reaction he did.

Reception from the public: the majority of articles that appears when the key words “Fabrice Muamba” or “Liam Stacey” are typed into a search engine result in the bloggers/journalists/news reports branding Stacey’s words extremely offensive and unnecessary. His provocative language and excessive use of expletives have built up a public image of a violent, racist youth whose comments were simply unacceptable in the public domain.

Separate Point of Interest: The Telegraph’s Mic Wright (journalist specialising in technology, music and popular culture) wrote an e-article surrounding twitter ‘trolls’; beginning with “sick comments on twitter are now, ludicrously, a criminal offence. So how come no-one has arrested Frankie Boyle?” His article then goes on to compare the fan base of ‘Celebrity Trolls’ to the comparatively anonymous tweeters that seem to be targeted by the law.