Online Abuse Sent To Brighton Player Via Instagram Leads To Conviction

Wednesday, 2 June 2021 08:06

By Iona Stewart-Richardson @IslandIona

A man in Singapore has today (Wednesday) been found guilty of sending serious online abuse to Albion striker Neal Maupay.

Derek Ng De Ren was convicted of crimes relating to harassment following an investigation and formal criminal complaint filed by the Premier League last August.

He will be sentenced on 7 July.

The threatening and abusive messages received by the player via Instagram were reported to the Premier League through its online abuse reporting system. The Premier League’s legal team undertook a detailed investigation to successfully identify and locate the offender.

Twitter

The League subsequently worked with Neal, the club and local authorities in Singapore to pursue legal action against the defendant, resulting in his prosecution and conviction.

📝 A man in Singapore has today been found guilty of sending serious online abuse to Albion striker Neal Maupay.#BHAFC 🔵⚪️
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) June 2, 2021

Chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber said:

“We welcome the verdict and thank the Premier League and their legal team for their support to both the club and Neal, as well as the authorities in Singapore for recognising the severity of the offence. This demonstrates that even where posts are anonymous, we will use all available legal resources to identify perpetrators, and we remind everyone that our club and the Premier League have a zero-tolerance policy to anyone who abuses our players, staff or other supporters.

"The message is clear. Abuse, trolling and online hate of any nature won't be tolerated; social media needs to be a safe and secure platform for all to enjoy. On our own channels, users will be banned, reported to the platform owners and reported to the police where they have broken the law. We fully expect other social media platforms to follow the same zero tolerance policy.

"We simply will not stand for this abuse. The social media giants must do more, but until they do, we are prepared to play our part by working with the Premier League and other authorities to identify and root out these individuals."