A British court has sentenced Simon Sillwood to eight weeks in jail for racially abusing online a player for the West Bromwich Albion soccer team. Sillwood, a fan of the team, was upset after it lost a shutout to Manchester City. He posted on a Facebook group that midfielder Romaine Sawyers, who is black, should receive the “Baboon d’Or” award, a reference to Balloon d’Or trophy awarded annually to the best soccer player. Sawyers told the court he felt “harassed, alarmed and distressed” after reading the post. Sillwood claimed he meant to post “buffoon” but misspelled it “bafoon” and autocorrect changed it to “baboon.”
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