Teenager Pleads Not Guilty to Racist Message Sent to England’s Jess Carter

A 19-year-old man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, to sending a racist message to England and Chelsea defender Jess Carter during last year’s Women’s European Championship, according to the BBC and Sky Sports. Aaryan Aggarwal, of Dickens Rise in Chigwell, Essex, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court charged with sending a message over a public communications network that was offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing.

Aggarwal is accused of calling Carter “stupid” and “ugly” before using a racial slur in a message sent to the 27-year-old defender on July 17, 2025 — the day England beat Sweden in the Euro 2025 quarter-final in Zurich, Switzerland, the BBC reported. He denied the charge in court on Wednesday, and the case is proceeding toward trial, according to reporting from both the BBC and Sky Sports.

Direct Answer: What Happened in Court

On September 23, 2026, Aaryan Aggarwal, 19, stood before Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court and denied sending a racially abusive message to Jess Carter during England’s Euro 2025 campaign in July 2025. He is charged under communications law with sending a message that was offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing, and the case is now headed toward a trial rather than being resolved at Wednesday’s hearing.

The Charge and the Alleged Message

According to Sky Sports, prosecutors told the court that Carter received the message on the day of England’s quarter-final win over Sweden. The outlet reported the alleged wording included the phrase “well done stupid ugly” followed by a racial slur, which Sky Sports flagged with a content warning given the offensive language involved.

The charge against Aggarwal — sending a message over a public communications network that is offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing — is a standard criminal offense used by UK prosecutors in cases involving abusive online messages. Aggarwal entered his not-guilty plea at Wednesday’s hearing, and outlets including the BBC, Sky Sports, ESPN and Yahoo Sports all confirmed the case will now move toward a trial date rather than concluding at the magistrates’ court stage.

Who Is Jess Carter

Carter, 27, is a center-back who plays club football for Chelsea and has been a regular fixture in the England women’s national team, known as the Lionesses. During Euro 2025 in Switzerland, Carter was one of the tournament’s most visible defenders as England advanced through the knockout rounds, including the win over Sweden on July 17, 2025, referenced in the current court case.

Carter’s July 2025 Statement on Racist Abuse

The message at the center of Wednesday’s court hearing was sent during a period in which Carter had already become the target of a wider wave of racist abuse online. On July 20, 2025, Carter posted a statement on her social media accounts saying she had decided to step away from social media for the remainder of the tournament. “From the start of the tournament I have experienced a lot of racial abuse,” Carter wrote, according to reporting from The Guardian at the time. “Whilst I feel every fan is entitled to their opinion on performance and result I don’t agree or think it’s ok to target someone’s appearance or race.”

The England team and the Football Association publicly condemned the abuse Carter received. FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said at the time that the governing body’s priority was supporting Carter and that the organization had contacted police over the messages. “Our priority is Jess and giving her all the support she needs,” Bullingham said, according to a statement published on The FA’s website. “We strongly condemn those responsible for this disgusting racism. As soon as we were made aware of the racist abuse Jess received, we immediately contacted UK police. They are in touch with the relevant social media platform.”

England’s players issued a collective statement at the time describing the abuse directed at Carter as “online poison” and voicing solidarity with their teammate as the squad continued its run through the tournament, which culminated in the semifinal against Italy that Carter played a part in despite the abuse she had received.

Timeline of Events

• July 17, 2025 — England beats Sweden in the Euro 2025 quarter-final in Zurich; prosecutors say Carter received the alleged racist message this day.
• July 20, 2025 — Carter announces on social media she is stepping back from the platforms for the rest of the tournament, citing sustained racial abuse; the FA and England players publicly condemn the abuse.
• September 23, 2026 — Aaryan Aggarwal, 19, appears at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court and pleads not guilty to the charge; the case moves toward trial.

How the Case Is Being Prosecuted

The prosecution reflects a broader pattern in English football of law enforcement pursuing criminal charges against individuals who send racist or abusive messages to players via social media. Cases of this kind are typically brought under communications legislation that criminalizes sending grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing messages over a public network, rather than under football-specific statutes, because the abuse in question is delivered online rather than inside a stadium.

According to the BBC’s report on Wednesday’s hearing, Aggarwal’s case was sent onward in the court process after his not-guilty plea, consistent with how contested charges of this type are typically handled — moving from a magistrates’ court hearing toward a trial where evidence will be presented and a plea already entered will stand unless changed.

The Broader Pattern of Online Abuse in Women’s Football

Carter’s experience during Euro 2025 was not an isolated incident within the tournament or within women’s football more broadly. Racist abuse directed at Black players — both men and women — has remained a persistent problem across English football, with governing bodies, players’ unions and anti-discrimination groups repeatedly calling for social media platforms and law enforcement to take stronger action against perpetrators.

The FA’s swift public response to the abuse Carter received in July 2025 — including direct contact with police and the platform involved — reflected an approach the governing body has increasingly adopted since a wave of racist abuse targeted England men’s players following the Euro 2020 final. That incident led to several prosecutions in the years since, establishing a precedent for how UK authorities pursue online racist abuse cases tied to footballers.

What Happens Next

With Aggarwal’s not-guilty plea entered on September 23, 2026, the case now moves toward a trial where prosecutors will need to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt. No verdict has been reached, and Aggarwal is presumed innocent unless and until a court finds otherwise. Neither Carter nor Chelsea has issued a new public statement specific to Wednesday’s hearing, and coverage so far has focused on the court proceedings themselves rather than fresh comment from the player.

The case is likely to draw continued attention given the profile of both the player involved and the broader conversation around online racist abuse in football. Further hearings will determine how the prosecution proceeds and whether additional details about the message and its circumstances emerge in court.

How we know: This article is based on court reporting from the BBC and Sky Sports on the September 23, 2026 hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, and on contemporaneous reporting from The Guardian and The FA’s official statement from July 2025 regarding the racist abuse Carter received during Euro 2025. Limitations: No trial date had been independently confirmed across all outlets at the time of publication, and this article will be updated as the case progresses.

Sources

• Racist message to England footballer Jess Carter denied by teen — bbc.co.uk
• Sky Sports — skysports.com
• The Guardian — theguardian.com
• Teenager denies sending racist message to Lioness star during Euros — mirror.co.uk
• Man, 19, to face trial over alleged racist message sent to England … — examinerlive.co.uk

Photo: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons