A teenager has pleaded not guilty to targeting England footballer Jess Carter with a message containing a racial slur during last year’s Women’s European Championship in Switzerland.
Aaryan Aggarwal, 19, stood before Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday charged with sending a message over a public network that was offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing.
Prosecutor Grace Court told the hearing that Carter received the communication on 17 July last year, when England defeated Sweden in their quarter-final match.
Aggarwal is accused of telling the footballer: "Well done stupid ugly n*****".
The defendant, of Chigwell in Essex, denied the charge at Wednesday's court appearance.
A trial date has been set for October 3 next year at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court.
Carter revealed earlier this year that she did not want to leave her hotel room during last year’s tournament due to online racist abuse, after a 60-year-old man pleaded guilty to sending abusive posts referencing her race and suggesting people with brown skin were “murderers” and “groomers” to her TikTok account.
Nigel Dewale received a suspended jail sentence in March following his guilty plea.
Carter told BBC Sport: “It was the first time where I lacked in confidence on the pitch. I didn’t want to leave the hotel in case the people who were saying those things were going to be in Switzerland with us.
“It was quite a scary time and it was just really sad. It kind of totally devalues you as a human being.
“I do not mind if people don’t like the way I play football, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But when you start attacking them as human beings and [for] what they look like, it’s a really sad thing to do.”
She added: “It’s just really sad. I felt a sense of responsibility to speak up, not only for myself, but just for anybody else that’s facing that kind of abuse. We want great rivalries, but the abuse, for me, doesn’t need to come with it.
“But that’s got worse. A lot of the players, specifically with the Lionesses, the profiles are getting huge now and every player should feel comfortable walking along the street and being whoever they want to be, and it’s getting to a place where I think a lot of people don’t feel that comfort any more.”
