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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Comment
Maya Oppenheim

Jeremy Vine says motorist spat at by Jamie Carragher should go 'straight to jail'

Jeremy Vine has argued the motorist spat at by retired footballer Jamie Carragher should go “straight to jail”.

The football pundit, who is a former Liverpool and England defender, was captured on video spitting at a 14-year-old girl and her father from his car.

Carragher, a commentator for Sky Sports, was subject to repeated taunts after Liverpool FC’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester United by the girl's father, who was driving the car while filming.

Vine, a veteran presenter who hosts a show on BBC Radio 2, weighed in on the incident and condemned Carragher’s actions while also arguing the motorist should be sent to prison.

“Spitting: disgusting, possibly criminal, certainly sackable,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Filming on a mobile while driving a car with a child in the back, on a motorway, paying no attention whatsoever to the road: straight to jail.”

Carragher, who was covering his former side’s defeat on Saturday, has apologised to the family for the incident and said he was “totally out of order”.

The 40-year-old, who was a defender for Liverpool for 17 years, released an apology on Sunday night on Twitter. He said that while he was "goaded three/four times while being filmed" there was "no excuse".

A Sky Sports spokesperson said: "It's unacceptable behaviour and we will be addressing it with Jamie."

In the clip, obtained by The Mirror, Carragher exchanges waves with the girl's dad. The retired footballer then winds down his window while the father winds down his passenger side window.

He can then be heard shouting: "Unlucky Jamie lad. Two, one."

Carragher responds by leaning out of his window and spitting towards the car and hitting the young girl who is sat in the front passenger seat.

The girl can be heard shouting “He spat at me” before her father replies: “How? Oooh. Nice. Jamie Carragher spat at my daughter. Nice, very nice, Jamie Carragher!”

The video ends with the teenage girl growing increasingly upset and adding: “Will you stop it now?”

Carragher will have disciplinary talks with Sky this week in a bid to save his job.

He was supposed to be the pundit for Danish television channel TV3 Sport for Manchester United's Champions League game at home to Sevilla on Tuesday. However, he has reportedly been pulled from their coverage as they look into the spitting incident.

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