Man who sent racial abuse online to Ivan Toney apologises in court

Antonio Neill, 24, of Blyth, Northumberland, admitted sending an offensive message to the Brentford striker.

Tom Wilkinson
Wednesday 25 January 2023 11:25 GMT
Ivan Toney shared on his Twitter account an image of an abusive message he had received (Nigel French/PA)
Ivan Toney shared on his Twitter account an image of an abusive message he had received (Nigel French/PA) (PA Wire)

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

A man has apologised in court for racially abusing Brentford striker Ivan Toney online, and told a district judge he is “disgusted and ashamed”.

Antonio Neill, 24, of Robert Street, Blyth, Northumberland, appeared at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court to admit a charge of sending an offensive message.

Police launched an investigation in October after Toney shared on his Twitter account an image of an abusive message he had received.

I'm sorry for what I said to Ivan. I'm disgusted and ashamed and want to become a better person

Antonio Neill

Officers treated the incident as a hate crime and traced the message to an address in North Shields, North Tyneside.

District Judge Paul Currer said the message, which was not read out in court, was “exceptionally offensive” and had “racial overtones”.

The district judge said he considered the matter to be “very serious” and adjourned sentencing until a separate, violent offence has been dealt with at the crown court.

After the judge told Neill to return for sentencing on March 30, the defendant said: “I’m sorry for what I said to Ivan (Toney).

“I’m disgusted and ashamed and want to become a better person.”

Earlier, Kash Khan, defending, told the court: “He is extremely remorseful, he was under the influence of a significant amount of alcohol at the time.”

Khan said Neill was living away from his family at the time, bailed to an area where he did not know people, and “behaved in a way he would never dream of acting”.

The solicitor said Neill’s family had tried to extend an apology to Brentford even before the police became involved.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in