Suspended jail term for former RUC man

Chelsea supporter Richard Barklie. Pic: Chris Radburn/PA WireChelsea supporter Richard Barklie. Pic: Chris Radburn/PA Wire
Chelsea supporter Richard Barklie. Pic: Chris Radburn/PA Wire
A former police officer from Carrick was given a suspended prison sentence at a court in Paris yesterday (Tuesday) for racist violence.

Fifty-two-year-old Richard Barklie, who had been an RUC officer, was one of four Chelsea fans who racially abused and shoved a black commuter off a train in the French capital.

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All four were ordered to pay the victim €10,000 (£8,504) compensation.

International outrage was sparked when film footage of the now-infamous episode emerged in February 2015, showing fans chanting: “We’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it.”

The other three accused are Joshua Parsons, 22, James Fairbairn, 25, and William Simpson, 27.

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Their suspended terms ranged from six and eight months for two of the defendants to one year for the others.

Barklie was not in court to hear the sentence.

Frenchman Souleymane Sylla was subjected to the abuse before Chelsea’s Champions League match against Paris St Germain on February 17 2015.

Video footage shows a group of about 150 Chelsea fans walk through Paris on their way to the match as flares were set off and some clambered on a car. They then file into the Metro station, where the race altercation happened.