Four men summonsed to court over calling England head coach Eddie Jones a ‘baldy c***’
The England rugby coach was targeted with verbal and physical abuse while making his way back from Edinburgh by train following the Six Nations defeat by Scotland
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Your support makes all the difference.Four men have been summonsed to appear in court after being reported for an alleged public order offence after England head coach Eddie Jones was verbally abused on his way back from Scotland during the Six Nations in February.
Jones travelled alone on two train journeys – one from Edinburgh to Manchester to join Sir Alex Ferguson at a Manchester United match and another from Manchester back to London – on 25 February, the day after England’s 25-13 Calcutta Cup defeat by Scotland, in which he claimed to have been both verbally and physically abused by Scotland supporters.
A video emerged on social media of the 58-year-old Australian outside Manchester Oxford Road station where he was asked by a group of four men for a photograph. Two of the men in question were seen with alcoholic drinks in their hand, and started to taunt Jones about the defeat the day before.
As Jones got into a waiting car, one of the men was heard to shout "what about last night you baldy c***" at him, before re-opening the door to continue the abuse.
On Tuesday, British Transport Police said that the four men, three of which are from Edinburgh aged 22, 23 and 25, and a 25-year-old from South Queensferry near Edinburgh, have been summonsed to appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court on 16 May.
They have been charged with using threatening or abusive words.
Jones said after the incident that he will not travel on public transport alone again while England head coach, having
“I’m a human being,” Jones said. “I don’t consider myself any different from anyone else, so for me to travel on public transport I thought was ok. But I’ll make sure I won’t in future. It’s as simple as that. I can’t because it was shown on Sunday what happens when I do. That’s the world we live in. I was massively surprised. It wasn’t comfortable.”
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