A football yob from Croydon has been fined and banned from attending games for three years after he made racist gestures to Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min. 

Robert Garland, of St Lawrence Way in Coulsdon, was supporting Crystal Palace on May 6 when the South Korean forward was substituted in the 89th minute. 

As Son left the pitch 44-year-old Garland pointed at him, shouted and made a racist gesture. 

Unfortunately for Garland, the abuse was caught on cameras and shared widely on social media. 

Son told police he did “nothing to be targeted with this horrible racist and discriminatory behaviour”. 

Garland pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment at Highbury Magistrates’ Court in August. 

He was then given a £1,384 fine and told to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work. 

At that hearing, Garland told magistrates that he had signed up for the anti-racism football charity Kick It Out and said he would never commit and offence like this again. 

Magistrates therefore decided not to impose a football banning order. 

However, prosecutors later appealed this decision and on Monday (November 6) a football banning order was added to his sentence. 

He will not be able to attend any regulated match for three years and will be required to surrend his passport during England international fixtures. 

Kevin Christie, CPS lead sports prosecutor for London North, said: “This case shows that hate crime at football will not be tolerated. 

“Garland’s actions were rightly condemned on social media and we call on all fans to carry on calling out any form of discriminatory behaviour against players or fans to the police or stewards so we can take cases like this to court.” 

Douglas Mackay, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor and CPS lead sports prosecutor, said: “Racist or any other form of discriminatory behaviour has a massive impact on the game, the players and fans.  

“Not only will the CPS look to prosecute anyone making vile gestures or actions, we will ask courts to ban them from the sport they say they love. 

“Anyone committing offences this season runs the risk of being banned from seeing their national team play in Euro 2024 as well as travelling abroad during that time, limiting summer holiday plans.” 

Chief Constable Mark Roberts, NPCC Lead for Football Policing, said: “Any form of racist, discriminatory or hateful behaviour at football matches is completely unacceptable. Officers will always aim to take further action when a criminal offence has been committed, working closely with partners. 
  
“Banning orders are one of the punishments fans can face, and last season we issued the highest number of banning orders in a single year since the 2010/11 season, working closely with the CPS. 

“As well as not being able to attend matches in this country, these fans will also be unable to travel to Germany for the Euro 2024 Championships. 

“We collectively need to make football a safe environment for the overwhelming majority of fans want to enjoy the game, and anyone who commits a criminal offence either outside or inside a football ground can expect to face the consequences of their actions. 

“CPS should be applauded for their determination in pursuing a banner order in this case and ensuring that ultimately the court complied with the intent of the legislation and correctly imposed a three-year ban.”