A 24 year-old man has been hit with a UK-wide stadium ban for racial abuse of Brentford striker, Ivan Toney.
Antonio Neill sent the racist message to Toney on 14 October 2022 and the striker proceeded to share a picture of the abuse on his Instagram account, which led Northumbria Police in conjunction with Metropolitican Police to trace Neill to North Shields, North-East England.
The abusive message came barely hours after Toney had scored twice in a 2-0 home win over Brighton that evening.
Neill, of Robert Street, Blyth, later pleaded guilty to sending the offensive message when he appeared in front of Magistrates in Newcastle on 25 January 2023, and was yesterday (13 March) handed a four-month sentence suspended for two years.
Magistrates also opted to impose a three-year football banning order upon Neill, which was the first time that specific order has been issued under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
The legislation also permitted a wider scope for a banning order to be issued for online hate crimes in relation to a person who has ‘a prescribed connection to a football organisation.’
Neill consequently is banned from attending football matches played in the UK, including matches across the top five tiers of the English Football pyramid plus England home internationals.
The 24 year-old is also prevented from travelling aboard to watch international friendlies, qualification matches and tournaments, under the terms of his banning order.
Superintendent Scott Cowie, hate crime lead for Northumbria Police, issued the following statement following Neill’s conviction: “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.”
Brentford added that they are ‘pleased’ to see this case ‘resolved’ and thanked Northumbria Police for successfully pursuing the case to a conclusion, whilst iterating that court appearances ‘set a strong precedent’ for anyone who commit hate crimes.
The club also has called for ‘tough action’ to be taken against anyone found guilty of racial abuse, with Toney having found himself ‘subject to sickening racist abuse on a regular basis,’ as recent as last month after he scored a controversial equaliser at Arsenal in a 1-1 draw.
Brentford concluded by iterating that they will ‘continue to support and implement a zero-tolerance policy towards discriminatory behaviour of any kind.’
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