Hibs chief Leeann Dempster praises Hearts’ handling of Marvin Bartley racist abuse

Hibs chief executive Leeann Dempster has praised city rivals Hearts for the swift way in which they dealt with the “shocking” racist abuse thrown at Easter Road midfielder Marvin Bartley during last weekend’s Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle.

Marvin Bartley was the target of racist abuse at Tynecastle

A video was circulated on social media showing Bartley warming up on the touchline with the caption “black c***”, the 32-year-old later revealing that, having obtained and viewed the clip without the sound removed, the individual could be heard repeatedly calling him a “n*****. Bartley branded the individual “small-minded and ignorant” but, while applauded by Dempster for the way in which he’d handled the situation, the Easter Road chief was left stunned by it. She said: “When I saw the incident on Monday, I was very shocked by it. Really shocked. Every incident of that nature is shocking, but that was particularly graphic in terms of the audio. To actually see that on film was really shocking. It was great credit to the people at Hearts and the supporters of Hearts that reported it and ensured the individual concerned was dealt with in the first instance. But I thought it was a shocking piece of video.

“It was incredibly difficult for Marvin to see and hear. I felt he dealt with it really well, as did the guys at Hearts.”

Police later revealed three people had been detained at the match, one of them over racist remarks, and the others in relation to the throwing of a coin and a flare.