Chelsea fan suspected of racially abusing a black man on Paris Metro challenges possible banning order because he lives in Northern Ireland

Richard Barklie is challenging a possible football banning order that applies to England and Wales as he lives in Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland

Chelsea fans refused to allow the commuter to board the carriage

A Chelsea supporter suspected of being involved in an incident in Paris where a black man was pushed off a train and racially abused is challenging a possible football banning order on grounds of jurisdiction because he lives in Northern Ireland, a court was told today.

Richard Barklie, 50, lives in Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland. The banning orders are being sought by the Metropolitan Police under the Football Spectators Act 1989, which only applies to England and Wales.

The incident came ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 clash with Paris Saint-Germain in February, when a French man named Souleymane S was prevented from boarding a Metro train before being targeted with racially abusive chants.

Several Chelsea supporters chanted on the train: “We’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it.”

District Judge Gareth Branston at Thames Magistrates Court in east London fixed a hearing at the court for 7 July, ahead of the full hearing at Waltham Forest Magistrates’ Court on 15 and 16 July.

Police are applying for banning orders to be imposed on five men who they believe were involved in the incident.

They are: Barklie, 50, of Victoria Street, Carrickfergus; Dean Callis, 32, of Liverpool Road, Islington, north London; Jordan Munday, 30, of Ellenborough Road, Sidcup, south-east London; Josh Parsons, 20, of Woodhouse Place, Dorking and William Simpson, 26, of Hengrove Crescent, Ashford, Surrey.

An earlier hearing at Waltham Forest was told that the men oppose the orders, which are designed as a preventative measure to stop potential troublemakers travelling to football matches at home and abroad.

Barklie's lawyer Nick Scott said after today's hearing: "He vehemently denies all the allegations made against him. His work in human rights healing the scars of the Troubles in Northern Ireland shows what a man of compassion he is."

Parsons' lawyer Saba Naqshbandi told the court she would consider the jurisdiction point as her client lived outside the "commissioner's territory". Edward Fenner for Simpson also expressed an interest in the issue.

The judge asked them if their clients lived in England and Wales and they confirmed that they do.

Following the incident, Souleymane S admitted that the incident had left him “destroyed”, and he rejected the offer to attend Stamford Bridge in a goodwill gesture that was made by the Premier League club.

Souleymane S also claimed he was unable to work or travel on the Metro, and added that his children were so “traumatised” by reports of the incident that they have become depressed.

Additional reporting by PA