Leeds dad Ashley Gill-Webb charged with throwing bottle at Usain Bolt race

Ashley Gill-Webb, 34, from South Milford, near Leeds, was charged with intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress under section 4a of the Public Order Act.

He denied the offence when he appeared in the dock this afternoon at Stratford Magistrates’ Court in east London.

Gill-Webb was arrested after the incident last night at the Olympic Stadium, which led to Dutch world judo champion Edith Bosch intervening.

He was granted conditional bail and told he would face trial at Thames Magistrates’ Court on September 3.

Gill-Webb wore a white T-shirt with the slogan “Veni, Vidi, Vino”.

He is charged with using threatening words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress under Section 4A of the Public Order Act.

District Judge Angus Hamilton adjourned the case for a half-day trial at Thames Courthouse on September 3.

He granted Gill-Webb bail on condition that he does not enter any Olympic venue, including the whole of the Olympic Park, and that he resides at his address in Cornmill Court, South Milford, with the exception of the evening before his trial on September 3.

Dutch world judo champion Edith Bosch intervened after the incident.

The 32-year-old was standing close by when a green plastic drink bottle was thrown from the stands behind the start line.

She told Dutch television station NOS TV: “I had seen the man walking around earlier and said to people around me that he was a peculiar bloke.

“Then he threw that bottle and in my emotion I hit him on the back with the flat of my hand.

“Then he was scooped up by the security. However, he did make me miss the final, and I am very sad about that.

“I just cannot understand how someone can do something like that.”

Bosch’s involvement was brought to public attention on Twitter, where she wrote: “A drunken spectator threw a bottle onto the track! I HAVE BEATEN HIM... unbelievable.”

Locog chairman Lord Coe said it was “poetic justice” that the man happened to be sitting next to the Dutch judo star.

He said: “I’m not suggesting vigilantism but it was actually poetic justice that they happened to be sitting next to a judo player.”

He added: “Throwing a bottle on to the field of play is unacceptable.

“It’s not just unacceptable at an Olympic Games but at any sporting event and anybody who does that will be removed.

“There is zero tolerance for anything like that.”

Speaking after the race, US sprinter Justin Gatlin, who won bronze, said: “It was a little distraction and I didn’t know what it was.

“But when you’re in those blocks and the whole stadium’s quiet you can hear a pin drop.”

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who won the race, said he had been unaware of the incident.

He said: “No, I keep hearing that. I don’t know who would have done that.”

Fellow Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake said: “I was so focused I didn’t see anything. I was so focused on just running to the line.”

Gatlin said the incident had not affected the race: “You just have to block it out and go out there and do what you got to do.

“You can’t complain about that, the race went on and it was a great race.”