A football fan who screamed racist abuse at a player has been banned from going to matches.
Everton season ticket holder Deanna Franklin admitted shouting the racist language towards Burnley's Dwight McNeil during a match at Goodison Park on September 13 last year.
However, she denied being racist when she appeared at Sefton Magistrates’ Court yesterday afternoon (February 15).
Franklin, 43, ended up being reported after another fan - who was at the match with his young son - heard her shout the vile abuse, believing it to be directed towards “the Burnley No.11 player”, Dwight McNeil.
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The witness was not named and did not attend court, the Liverpool ECHO reports.
However, in a statement read out by prosecutors he described how he recognised Franklin at the Burnley match, having seen her behave in a “vulgar” way at previous matches.
He said he heard Franklin shout the slur during the first half before he and other fans challenged her, with one saying “you shouldn’t be here”.
The witness said in their statement: “During half time I was really unhappy about it and I reported it to one of the stewards.
“They then took her out at half time.
“This behaviour is wrong. I did not want to hear it and I did not want to hear it used in front of my son.”
The court heard Everton immediately suspended her season ticket after the incident and she had not attended a match since.
Franklin admitted she used the language and apologised before the court but rejected the idea that she was racist.
She said: “I have mixed race friends, I’m not a racist.
“I have mixed race friends and everything.”
Franklin, of Bath Street North, Southport, was handed a football banning order for three years, blocking her from attending any regulated matches.
She must also not go within a mile of Goodison Park for two hours either before kick off or after a match ends when Everton play there.
The same rule applies to stadiums in other cities when Everton travel there for games.
Franklin, who cannot work due to medical issues, was also fined £180.
