A court has revealed the names! Brentford FC's German duo confronted a drunk racist on their way home from a match

As emerged during a hearing at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court, the two Brentford players who stopped a drunk troublemaker in Richmond were Kevin Schade and Vitaly Janelt.

In the early hours, 63-year-old David Wheeler attacked Nigerian security worker Israel Ilesanmi as he made his way home and racially abused him.

Wheeler wrongly suspected him of scouting for burglars and filmed the victim, saying: "You are not English. Why are you here? What are you looking for?" Brentford's two German professionals witnessed the incident and stepped in, and the perpetrator immediately turned his aggression towards them.

Witnesses told the court the man, who was under the influence of alcohol, insulted the footballers with the words: "Fuck off, you fucking German arseholes." The hearing also heard that Wheeler suffered a black eye during the altercation after Schade and Janelt defended the security worker and kept the aggressor at bay until police arrived.

Incident in Brentford: what exactly happened?

The defendant, a driver of a pharmaceutical delivery van with about seven cans of beer in his blood, initially denied the racist abuse in court. He changed his plea only after the lunch break, when he was presented with a recording of the emergency call in which his remarks could clearly be heard.

Wheeler tried to justify his behaviour by claiming there had been an emergency: "I was deeply ashamed that I had actually made racist remarks. It was in the heat of the moment. I was knocked to the ground. Those guys in the car, the Germans, are athletes and less than half my age. They all laughed at me. I couldn't get my mobile phone back. Then some terrible expressions slipped out."

The deputy district judge firmly rejected his claim that he had acted under duress. Wheeler was ultimately fined one month's salary of £1,699, the equivalent of just under €2,000, and ordered to pay around €175 in compensation to the security worker. In the grounds for the verdict, the judge stressed that alcohol consumption was no excuse and that the circumstances did not justify the choice of words in any way.

Schade initially joined Brentford on loan from SC Freiburg in January 2023 before the Bees signed the Germany international, who has five caps, for €25 million. The 28-year-old midfielder Janelt joined the west London club from VfL Bochum in 2020.