Voice Of Post

Pictured with Nigel Farage, the ex-public schoolboy who was one of the Chelsea fans on train of racist football thugs in Paris - as black 'victim' tells of his shocking ordeal, A former public schoolboy who was named on Twitter as one of the Chelsea fans who shoved a black man off a train in Paris is a 'vocal' UKIP supporter who once enjoyed a pint with Nigel Farage.

Josh Parsons, 20, who went to the £30,000-a-year Millfield School in Somerset, posed with Mr Farage outside a central London pub with the caption: 'UKIP BOYS! 'What a geezer'.
Last night the city worker was identified as one of the shouting group seen pushing the commuter twice in shocking footage.

Moments later, chants of 'We're racist, we're racist, and that's the way we like it' broke out.
It came as the Frenchman pushed off the Metro train was revealed to be Souleymane S, 33, who said: 'These Chelsea supporters should be punished', and confirmed he was making a formal criminal complaint.

Mr Parsons, a former pupil of Millfield School, where fees are £11,150 a term for boarders, studies business at Regent's University London, a friend said.

Ash Williams wrote on Twitter: 'That is Josh Parsons in the black jacket (second from right) season ticket holder.'
His former school, in Street, Somerset, was attended by James Hewitt, singer Lily Allen and several sports stars.

He now works for the Business and Commercial Finance Club in central London.
Yesterday, Mr Parsons' social media profiles had been taken down and his family did not respond to enquiries.
A friend said that he was a backer of UKIP, but the party said today they 'have no idea who he is', and said the picture was taken in a chance meeting outside a London pub.

Speaking outside his Mayfair office this morning, his boss Miranda Khadr said Mr Parsons would not be coming into work this morning.

She said: 'He is very scared at the moment and he called me to say he is not coming in today.
'He is not that type of person at all (to have taken part in racist chants), he works with me and I'm not English.
'He is a 21-year-old little boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

Today a second man on the metro train stood behind Mr Parsons was named locally at Jordan Munday, from south-east London.

There is no suggestion that either was involved in the pushing of the passenger or the racist chanting.
However, having been inside the carriage during the incident, both will be key witnesses for the police.
Prosecutors have already launched a criminal enquiry for 'voluntary racial violence on public transport', which is punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine equivalent to £33,000.

Speaking for the first time, Souleymane – who said he was attacked 'because of the colour of my skin' – said: 'I didn't know that I was filmed. The fact that it is being talked about has given me the courage to go and make a complaint to the police.

'These people, these English supporters ought to be found, punished and ought to be locked up. What happened should not go unpunished.'

Souleymane lives in the Val-d'Oise department to the north of Paris, and was on his way home from his job close to the Richelieu-Drouot Metro station, in central Paris, soon after 7pm on Tuesday evening.
He tried to get on to a train, but found it packed with Chelsea fans on their way to watch the London side's European Champions League game against Paris St Germain.

He told Le Parisien: 'I wanted to get into the carriage but a group of English fans blocked me and pushed me away.
'I tried to force my way on, I kept trying to get back on. In the scramble, I lost my phone. They told me things in English but I did not really understand the meaning of their words.
'I don't speak a word of English. I understood that they were Chelsea fans, and I made the connection with the PSG match, which was taking place the same evening.

'I also understood that they were attacking me because of the colour of my skin. You know, I live with racism, I was not really surprised by what happened to me, even if it was a first in the Metro.
'I stood in front of them for a long time. Someone came up to me afterwards and said I'd been brave to stand up to such people.

'I think the whole thing lasted about six or seven minutes.
Referring to Metro workers, Souleymane said: 'After while, RATP staff intervened, but only to make sure there wasn't any fighting.

'Their aim was to make sure the traffic resumed on the line. No other passengers defended me, but anyway, what could anyone do?

'Then the train left, and I walked away, and waited for the next train. I went home and didn't mention what happened to anyone, not even my wife and children.'

'What was I meant to say to my children? That Dad was pushed and shoved in the Metro because he's black? That's hopeless'.

The Prime Minister has called the video – shot after Chelsea drew with Paris Saint- Germain on Tuesday night in the UEFA Champions League – 'extremely disturbing'. Chelsea Football Club labelled it 'abhorrent'.
It evokes the hooliganism that plagued the team in the 1970s. Last night, UK police were hunting those pictured as Chelsea launched a hotline for fans to turn them in.

They face three years in prison if caught in France, and Scotland Yard said it would consider barring them from matches for up to ten years. David Cameron said: 'I'm sure the French police will be looking at it very seriously.'
The minute-long video was filmed by a British expatriate who sent it to The Guardian. In it, the black man attempts to board, but the gang shove him off.