A man who racially abused Brentford striker Ivan Toney on social media has been banned from every stadium in the country in a landmark ruling. Toney shared a picture of the abuse he had received via his Instagram account, as Northumbria Police, supported by the Metropolitan Police, launched a full investigation into the incident.
Antonio Neill, 24, sent the racist message to Toney on October 14th last year. The message, which officers treated as a hate crime, was traced to a suspect who was then living in the North Shields area.
Neill pleaded guilty to sending an offensive message when he appeared before magistrates in Newcastle on January 25.
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On Monday, March 13 at the same court, the 24-year-old man was handed a four-month sentence, suspended for two years for the online offence as well as a three-year football banning order – the first of its kind to be issued under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
A statement from Brentford Football Club read: "Brentford FC is pleased to see the Antonio Neill case resolved and that Northumbria Police pursued this to a conclusion. Court appearances set a strong precedent for anyone else who commits hate crimes and it is our hope that sentences increase in severity until this sort of crime is eradicated.
"Ivan Toney has been subject to sickening racist abuse on a regular basis, and we want to see tough action taken against anyone found guilty of such abuse. The club firmly believes there is no place for racial abuse in football and we continue to support and implement a zero-tolerance policy towards discriminatory behaviour of any kind.
"All authorities have their role to play in this and we, again, call upon the social media companies to make their platforms safe for all participants and to remove all hateful content."
Superintendent Scott Cowie, hate crime lead for Northumbria Police, said: “Discrimination has absolutely no place in any society, whether out in our communities or online. I am therefore delighted that the seriousness of Neill’s offence has been reflected with this banning order, which forbids him from attending any regulated football in the United Kingdom.
“I hope this reinforces our commitment to taking action against anybody who commits a hate crime – it will not be tolerated and we will do all we can to put perpetrators before the courts. I would like to thank everyone who played their part in this particular case, including the team of officers who worked tirelessly to secure justice as well as our colleagues at the Metropolitan Police, the UK Football Policing Unit and the Premier League.”
The ban forbids Neill from attending any regulated football match in the UK, which includes Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two and National League fixtures, as well as England home international fixtures.
Chief constable Mark Roberts, NPCC lead for football policing, said: “This result makes it clear that there are real consequences for those people who think they can hide behind a keyboard to post hateful comments. I’m pleased the new legislation has enabled a banning order to be issued in this case, which shows that the police, CPS and the courts are taking these offences very seriously.
“Northumbria Police have been proactive in seeking this order and it shows we are taking a proactive approach. I would urge others who are victims of online hate to come forward and report it to police so it can be investigated and action can be taken.”
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