Controversial ‘manosphere influencer’ Ed Matthews has been ordered to pay a fine of £4,500 after making a derogatory comment to a Sainsbury’s supermarket worker
Ed Matthews has been fined £4,500 after pleading guilty to making a lewd comment to a Sainsbury’s worker. The controversial ‘manosphere influencer’ made the comment to a female member of staff at a store in Lancaster on March 2.
The 24-year-old, who also appeared in Louis Theroux’s Inside the Manosphere on Netflix, and four other men, surrounded the woman. The female worker, who had her arm in a sling due to an injury, was left feeling “trapped,” Preston Magistrates Court heard.
She had been cleaning up the store, near the alcohol aisle, when one of the men asked where the meat was. The group then began questioning the woman about British food.
Matthews then started asking the woman, who is Polish, “whether she liked English wood.” The prosecutor told the court: “She knew this meant penis, and she said no.” Ed then asked the female worker if she liked “Polish wood”.
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The court was then told that Matthews, who was on crutches at the time, had “vividly” told the woman that he had injured his leg “during a threesome”. The female employee “felt trapped as they had surrounded her”.
The Sun reports that she ended up giving one of the men in the group her Instagram account in order to make them go away, the court heard. The employee reported the incident to her boss, and the police were then able to identify Matthews.
He was subsequently interviewed in August but responded no comment to all questions. Matthews’ lawyer, Saf Rathor, told the hearing that the content creator makes an estimated £5,000 to £10,000 per month and he was “embarrassed and ashamed” over his behaviour.
Matthews’ lawyer added that his client had now “turned to God”. He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for attacking an alleged paedophile in a sting operation.
Rathor told the hearing that Mr Mathews had “turned over a new leaf,” following his stint behind bars and “wants to inspire the young”. Matthews pleaded guilty to one charge of using threatening, abusive or insulting words/behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
He was ordered to pay a £2,884 fine, a £1,154 victim surcharge, £500 in compensation, and £85 in costs. Chairing magistrate Deborah Topping told the court that Matthews had taken a lead role, adding that “the lady felt trapped”.
She told the court: “It wasn’t just one or two words, and then you walked away – it was sustained.”
Matthews appeared on Inside the Manosphere earlier this year and was interviewed by Louis Theroux while he was in Marbella.
During the Netflix show, he shared anti-Semitic claims, claiming that Jewish people controlled the world “without the best intentions”. He later hit out at the show after it aired, asking whether it was a “hit piece”.
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