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Friday, January 4, 2013
A British man accused of screaming abuse at sprint sensation Usain Bolt during last year's London Olympics has pleaded not guilty to a public order offence.
Ashley Gill-Webb went on trial yesterday, accused of hurling a beer bottle on to the track as the Olympic men's 100 metres final was about to begin.
The court heard that Gill-Webb, 34, began shouting insults like "Usain I want you to lose, Usain you are bad...".
The Jamaican sprinter did not hear the abuse or see a green Heineken bottle land behind the starting line.
He went on to win the race in 9.63 seconds, the second-fastest time recorded.
"In the stadium, along with the many thousands who should have been there legitimately and were watching the race in hushed anticipation, was also Gill-Webb who it is now accepted was unwell at the time," said prosecutor Neil King.
"This bottle landed extremely close to the athletes and it's probably luck rather than Gill-Webb's judgement that it did not do anything far more serious," King told the Press Association.
Gill-Webb, did not have a ticket to attend the 100-metre final but had somehow pushed his way to the front of an exclusive seating area.
After his outburst, Gill-Webb was confronted by Dutch judoka Edith Bosch, an Olympic bronze medallist, then restrained by volunteer workers and arrested.
In a written witness statement read out in court, Bosch said Gill-Webb's taunts against Bolt had gone on for about two min
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