By Jon Couch
WHITEHAWK FC have distanced themselves from former co-owner and director Chris Gargan after he was jailed for racially abusing a pregnant woman in a pub.
Gargan, 55, was sentenced to four months imprisonment after Brighton Crown Court heard he verbally abused the 24-year-old woman, whose family come from Jamaica, at the Fiveways pub in the town last April.
Jurors heard how he came up behind the woman, who he didn't know, as she was sat in the pub with her partner and family and said: “They don't let ******* in here”.
The shocked victim, who was eight months pregnant, reported the incident to police that evening and Gargan was later arrested with the help of CCTV.
Gargan denied the offence while a spokesman for his family says he intends to appeal the conviction.
On sentencing him, Judge Anthony Niblett told the former Hawks director that the word he used was “totally abhorrent” and “had no place in today's society” before going on to say his public standing had “made him think he was above the law”.
Businessman Gargan was a former co-owner of the National League South club and stood down as president at The Enclosed Ground at the end of last season.
Therefore, up until his sentence, his only association at the club was that as sponsor and volunteer.
Whitehawk chairman John Summers told The NLP he was ‘shocked and stunned' to hear of his former colleague's plight, but doesn't consider Gargan to be a racist.
Summers said: “We had no idea about the case against Chris and we were geuinely shocked when we heard the news.
“This is a very serious situation and goes massively against the core values of the club and the people associated with it.
“I've known Chris a long time, I do not see him as a racist, nor has the club received any complaint of such in the past. However, if he has made a comment along those lines then he has to take responsibility for his actions and ultimately pay the price.
“The club still find it all hard to believe but I can assure you Chris will no longer be associated with the club in any capacity.
“We move on with an exciting new manager in Jimmy Dack and some exciting new players in the squad.”
Alongside work colleagues Peter McDonnell and Mark Ratcliffe, Gargan formed a three-pronged ownership of the Hawks in 2011 and led to the club to back-to-back promotions.
But despite helping to finance a raft of high-profile players and managers, the Hawks failed to make the next step up to the top tier, while a proposed name change to Brighton City FC also failed.
Gargan's son, Sam – a former striker at the club – was banned from all football for three months in 2015 after admitting breaching the Football Association's Rule E8 in relation to betting, while an 18-year-old Academy graduate at Brighton & Hove Albion.
