Man given UK stadium ban for racial abuse of player

1 year ago 47

Striker Ivan Toney successful enactment for Brentford

A antheral who sent a racist connection to Brentford striker Ivan Toney connected societal media has been banned from each shot crushed successful the United Kingdom for 3 years.

It is the archetypal banning bid issued nether the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.

Antonio Neill, 24, admitted sending an violative message astatine Newcastle Magistrates' Court successful January.

He was besides handed a four-month jailhouse sentence, suspended for 2 years.

As good arsenic each matches successful the UK, the banning bid besides prevents Neill from travelling overseas to ticker planetary friendlies, qualification matches and tournaments.

New authorities was brought successful past twelvemonth to widen the scope of banning orders for online hatred crimes.

"Discrimination has perfectly nary spot successful immoderate society, whether retired successful our communities oregon online," said Supt Scott Cowie, hatred transgression pb for Northumbria Police.

"I anticipation this reinforces our committedness to taking enactment against anybody who commits a hatred transgression - it volition not beryllium tolerated and we volition bash each we tin to enactment perpetrators earlier the courts."

Toney posted a screenshot of a nonstop connection helium received connected Instagram in a Twitter station successful October, with constabulary treating the incidental arsenic a hatred crime.

Neill, of Blyth, Northumberland, apologised to Toney successful tribunal successful January for sending the message, which was described by a justice arsenic "exceptionally offensive" and with "racial overtones".

Toney also received racist and abusive messages to his Instagram relationship aft scoring the equaliser against Arsenal astatine Emirates Stadium successful January.

Brentford described the prohibition issued to Neill arsenic a "landmark ruling".

"Ivan Toney has been taxable to sickening racist maltreatment connected a regular basis, and we privation to spot pugnacious enactment taken against anyone recovered blameworthy of specified abuse," a Brentford connection said.

"The nine firmly believes determination is nary spot for radical maltreatment successful shot and we proceed to enactment and instrumentality a zero-tolerance argumentation towards discriminatory behaviour of immoderate kind."

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