A man who racially abused Brentford striker Ivan Toney on social media has been banned from every stadium in the country in the first banning order issued under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, the Premier League club said on Tuesday.
Toney, who has been racially abused several times in the past, shared a screenshot of the message he received on Instagram in October after he scored twice in a 2-0 win over Brighton.
Northumbria Police and the Metropolitan Police launched a full investigation to trace the suspect and in January the man, named Neill, pleaded guilty to sending an offensive message.
“Neill 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,” Brentford said in a statement.
“The legislation widened the scope for banning orders to be issued for online hate crimes relating to a person with a prescribed connection to a football organisation.
“The order 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 internationals.”
Neill is also banned from travelling abroad to watch international friendlies, qualification matches and tournaments.
Brentford said the club hopes sentences for online abuse increase and called on social media companies to remove all hateful content to make their platforms safe for everyone.
Information from Associated Press was included in this report.
