James White, 36, has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for rape, sexual assault, and a campaign of violent abuse. The sentence was handed down after White was found guilty of all charges at Warwick Crown Court in June. He had previously been banned from all football grounds in the country in 2023 for displaying a Manchester United shirt with the number 97 and the words ‘Not Enough’ on the back during the club's FA Cup Final against Manchester City.
White's shirt was seen as a mockery of the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster, where 97 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death at an FA Cup semi-final. A judge branded his actions as ‘abhorrent,’ and survivors of the tragedy also condemned the display.
Warwickshire Police reported that White subjected his victim to a “campaign of horrific abuse, violence and sexual assaults.” The victim told a relative that White had attacked her, used a knife to cut her abdomen, and caused bruising to her face and injuries to her back and torso. White had pleaded not guilty to assault, sexual assault, rape, and domestic abuse charges.
At a previous hearing regarding the shirt display, District Judge Mark Jabbitt stated it was difficult to imagine a more offensive reference to the Hillsborough disaster. White offered an unusual explanation to police, claiming the shirt referred to his grandfather, who died at the age of 97 and ‘didn’t have enough kids.’
Following the incident with the shirt, White was fined £1,000, ordered to pay £485 in costs, and received a four-year ban from all UK football games. Manchester United issued White an indefinite ban from Old Trafford, with a spokesperson stating that mockery of the Hillsborough Disaster and other football tragedies is unacceptable.
Detective Constable Baylie Cairns of Warwickshire Police stated that White’s sentence will prevent him from posing a risk to the victim and others. Cairns commended the victim for her bravery in speaking out about the offenses committed against her. Inquests held a decade prior to the sentencing found that the 97 fans unlawfully killed at Hillsborough were unlawfully killed.