"I'm ashamed of myself."
So told Paul Grange to reporters after pleading guilty to "displaying threatening/abusive writing/sign/visible representation likely to cause harassment/alarm/distress".
It was after the 50-year-old Worcester man was photographed in a beer garden on May 29, wearing an offensive t-shirt that mocked the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.
The 96 Liverpool supporters who were unlawfully killed in 1989 were referenced on the garment that Grange had personally designed and ordered at a local printing firm.
(Photo via @khfc_laura/Twitter. Now pixellated.)
As well as a £600 fine, the city magistrates ordered Grange pay a £60 victim surcharge and £135 in costs. On the day that the offence occurred, he was ejected from the premises of the Brewers Arms pub and banned from the establishment.
Grange had the following to say about the verdict:
"Hearing that statement, it's hit home, the personal effect of it.
"It (the T-shirt) was only supposed to be between friends. And until it went public I didn't realise how badly it affected people.
"Because of my own actions, I have lost my home, my job, my friends, my family and relationship. And it's deserved - I don't think it's any less than I deserve."
