Man who racially abused Brentford’s Ivan Toney gets English stadium ban

A man who racially abused Brentford’s Ivan Toney on social media has become the first person to be banned from every English stadium under the police, crime, sentencing and courts act.

Antonio Neill, 24, sent the message via Toney’s Instagram account in October last year and the player shared it publicly, prompting a police investigation.

Neill, of Robert Street, North Shields, pleaded guilty before Newcastle magistrates on 25 January to sending an offensive message. On Monday he received a four-month sentence suspended for two years and a three-year ban from attending football matches in England.

The ban extended to clubs in the Premier League, Championship, Leagues One and Two and the National League, as well as to England home internationals, qualifying matches and tournaments played overseas.

Neill is the first person to receive such a sentence under the legislation introduced last year which brought in new powers for courts to ban offenders who engage in abuse and commit hate crimes online.

Superintendent Scott Cowie, hate crime lead for Northumbria Police, said on Brentford’s website: “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.”

Toney was also sent racist messages after Brentford’s draw with Arsenal in February. Neill’s sentence relates to a message sent after Toney had scored twice in a 2-0 win over Brighton.