Blyth troll who sent racist tweet to Premiership footballer Ivan Toney is sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court

Antonio Neill has been banned from every stadium in the country for sending a racist tweet to Ivan Toney.

Blyth man Antonio Neill, 24, sent the racist message to Brentford striker Ivan Toney on October 14 last year.

After Toney shared a picture of the abuse received via his own social media account, Northumbria Police and the Metropolitan Police launched a joint investigation.

The message, which officers treated as a hate crime, was traced to a suspect who was then living in the North Shields area.

On January 25, Neill, of Robert Street, pleaded guilty to sending an offensive message when he appeared before magistrates in Newcastle.

Yesterday (Monday) at the same court, 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.

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.

Superintendent Scott Cowie, hate crime lead for Northumbria Police, said: “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, the first of its kind to be issued in the UK.

“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 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.

The banning order also prevents him from travelling abroad to watch international friendlies, qualification matches and tournaments.

Following the hearing, Brentford Football Club said: "Brentford FC is pleased to see the Antonio Neill case resolved and that Northumbria Police pursued this to a conclusion."Court appearances set a strong precedent for anyone else who commits hate crimes and it is our hope that sentences increase in severity until this sort of crime is eradicated."Ivan Toney has been subject to sickening racist abuse on a regular basis, and we want to see tough action taken against anyone found guilty of such abuse.

"The club firmly believes there is no place for racial abuse in football and we continue to support and implement a zero-tolerance policy towards discriminatory behaviour of any kind.

"All authorities have their role to play in this and we, again, call upon the social media companies to make their platforms safe for all participants and to remove all hateful content."