Man handed down three-year stadium ban for racist abuse of Toney

A man who racially abused Brentford striker Ivan Toney on social media has been banned from all stadiums across the country in the first banning order issued under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, the Premier League club said on Tuesday Tuesday with.

Toney, who has suffered multiple racial abuses in the past, shared a screenshot of the message he received on Instagram in October after scoring twice in the 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 abusive message.

“Neill has been sentenced to four months in prison with two years suspended sentence for the online offence, as well as a three-year football ban – the first of its kind issued under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022,” Brentford said in a statement.

“The legislation has increased the scope for issuing online hate crime prohibition orders relating to an individual with a prescribed connection to a football organisation.

“The order bans Neill from attending regulated football matches in the UK, which include Premier League, Championship, First Division, Second Division and National League matches, as well as England internationals.”

Neill is also not allowed to travel abroad to watch international friendlies, qualifiers and tournaments.

Brentford said the club hoped to see penalties for online abuse increase and urged social media companies to remove all hateful content to make their platforms safe for everyone.

Information from the Associated Press was included in this report.