A 24‑year‑old British man, Antonio Neill, has been banned from every stadium in the United Kingdom for three years after he racially abused Brentford football star Ivan Toney on social media. English police described the ruling as a “landmark ruling,” the first of its kind issued under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, according to Sky Sports. Neill sent the racist message to Toney on 14 October last year; Toney later shared a picture of the abuse on his Instagram account.
Northumbria Police, supported by the Metropolitan Police, launched a full investigation. Officers treated the message as a hate crime and traced it to a suspect living in the North Shields area. On 25 January, Neill, of Robert Street, Blyth, pleaded guilty to sending an offensive message when he appeared before magistrates in Newcastle.
At the same court on Monday, Neill received a four‑month sentence suspended for two years for the online offence, together with a three‑year football banning order—the first such order issued under the 2022 Act. Superintendent Scott Cowie, hate‑crime lead for Northumbria Police, was quoted on Brentford’s website: “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 legislation has therefore widened the scope for banning orders to be issued for online hate crimes involving a person with a prescribed connection to a football organisation.
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