by 
A man who shouted a racial insult near the former international rugby international Ugo monye international after a match was noted not guilty of a public order offense on Friday.
Angus Beukes, 32, from South Africa, comments on the Sandy Park Stadium in Exeter after the Chiefs of Exeter played Southwest Rivals Gloucester in the English Premier on November 19, 2023.
The Exeter Court of First Instance heard that Monye commented on the match and was leaving for his taxi at the station.
Mony has described hearing a man with a South African accent repeatedly use the insult, leaving him “extremely shocked”.
Beukes, a mechanic who represented himself in court via a video link from South Africa, denied an accusation of harassment, alarm or racial aggravated distress.
He insisted that he had spoken to a friend, who is also South African, and that the word in question is acceptable in their homeland.
The magistrates found that Beukes, who has a mixed race, not guilty of the accusation, claiming that the prosecutors had not proved that he knew that the word was offensive in Great Britain.
The president of judge Paul Doyle said that the “key point” was whether Beukes wanted her actions to be threatening, abusive or insulting and if he knew they could have been.
“We have heard a number of independent witnesses,” said Doyle. “The majority of people have agreed that the use of the word na was used for your friend to prevent her from using her phone.”
Doyle said that Beukes have been in the United Kingdom for six months at the time of the offense and that the question of deciding on the court was to know if he had realized that the racial suspension was offensive in British culture during this period.
“He is on the accusation to show us that it was,” he added.
“We note that they have not demonstrated this beyond reasonable doubt.
“As these elements have not been fully proven to a satisfactory standard, we find you not guilty of the offense.”
The prosecutor Maree Doyle has read declarations of witnesses, including one of a monye.
In his statement, Mony said: “I felt immediately shocked by that because the word is extremely offensive. I heard the word again that the male passed in front of me. The male was held in front of me and I repeated the word again.”
Exeter presented public apology to Mony after the incident, the former wing of England saying at the time when he was “fed up” after Beukes was not disputed by those around him after having shouted the insult.
JDG / NF
