A man who shouted a racial slur in the vicinity of former England rugby union international Ugo Monye following a match was found not guilty on Friday of a public order offence.
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Angus Beukes, 32, from South Africa, made the comment at Exeter’s Sandy Park Stadium after the Exeter Chiefs played southwest rivals Gloucester in the English Premiership on 19 November 2023.
Repeatedly used the slur
Exeter Magistrates’ Court heard Monye had been commentating on the match and was leaving for his taxi to the train station.
Ugo Monye described hearing a man with a South African accent repeatedly use the slur, leaving him “extremely shocked”.
Beukes, a mechanic who represented himself in court via video link from South Africa, denied a charge of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress.
He insisted he had been talking to a female friend, who is also South African, and that the word in question is acceptable in Mzansi.
Magistrates found Beukes, who is of mixed race, not guilty of the charge, saying prosecutors had not proved he knew the word was offensive in Britain.
‘Abusive and insulting’
Presiding justice Paul Doyle said the “key point” was whether Beukes intended his actions to be threatening, abusive or insulting and whether he knew they might have been.
“The majority of those agreed that the use of the n-word was used towards your friend to stop her from using her phone.”
“In evidence, we have heard that the use of the n-word was directed at your friend,” Doyle told Beukes.
“We have also heard that there has been no general socialising outside of the South African community that you shared a house with while in the UK for the time you were here.
“We heard from a number of independent witnesses. The majority of those agreed that the use of the n-word was used towards your friend to stop her from using her phone.
“Mr Monye’s evidence is that the n-word was used multiple times, also following when he remonstrated with you and while you were running away.”
Doyle said Beukes had only been in the UK for six months at the time of the offence and the question for the bench was whether he became aware the n-word was offensive in UK culture during that time.
“The onus is on the prosecution to show us that this was the case,” he added.
“We find that they have not demonstrated this beyond reasonable doubt. As these elements have not been fully proved to a satisfactory standard, we find you not guilty of the offence.”
‘Shocked’
In a statement, Ugo Monye said: “I felt immediately shocked by this as the word is extremely offensive. I heard the word again said as the male went past me. The male stood in front of me and repeated the word again.
“My first thought was he would have to be drunk to be shouting that word in public. I had a bag over my shoulder. I dropped it on the floor to challenge his behaviour.
“I said ‘mate, you can’t be saying that’. I took hold of him at the top of his jacket. We were sort of jostling but it didn’t get any more physical than that. I expected him to apologise. He just seemed to double down.”
Monye said supporters separated the two men and he asked for someone to take a photograph of Beukes but nobody did so. He alleged that Beukes repeated the racial slur again before running off.
“He said it while looking me in the eye,” Monye added.
In evidence, Beukes said he had been invited to the match by friends and attended along with a female colleague, also from South Africa.
He insisted the n-word has “no significant meaning” in South Africa and that he was not aware it was offensive until Monye’s reaction.
“In South Africa, we reprimand each other like that,” Beukes added.
“In my country, it doesn’t mean anything. It has no meaning whatsoever.”
‘Apologised following the incident’
Beukes told the court he only used the n-word once, towards his friend, saying “My n-word, put your phone away” as she was causing a bottleneck in the queue of fans waiting to leave the stadium.
The Chiefs apologised to Monye following the incident, which was investigated by Devon and Cornwall Police.
In a statement released at the time, the Rugby Football Union said it was “appalled” by what happened and pledged its “full support” to Monye.
Ugo Monye, now 41, made 14 appearances for England between 2008 and 2012, scoring two tries.
He also picked up two British & Irish Lions caps on their 2009 tour of South Africa, during which he scored one try.
Is there another ‘N’ word that IS acceptable in SA that we’re not aware of?!
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