News
Facebook and Twitter hand over details of racist trolls who abused England players to police
Thanks to the investigation, dozens of people who made a racist social media post have been identified
The personal details of the racist trolls who abused England players following the Euros 2020 final on Sunday night have been handed over to the police by Facebook and Twitter.
The social media platforms confirmed that they have been ‘working very closely’ with investigating police officers, who say they are digging into ‘dozens’ of people’s racist tweets after five people were arrested in the wake of Sunday’s final.
The Times reported that both platforms will be providing names, emails and IP addresses of users who are believed to have sent discriminatory messages if requested by the authorities.
Solen Feyissa / Unsplash
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs’ Council football policing lead, the person to confirm the news, said on the matter: “The racial abuse aimed at our own players following Sunday night’s game is utterly vile and has quite rightly shocked and appalled people across the country. I’m disgusted there are individuals out there who think it’s acceptable to direct such abhorrent abuse at them, or at anybody else.
“The UKFPU investigation is well under way and work continues to identify those responsible. We are working very closely with social media platforms, who are providing the data we need to progress inquiries.
“If we identify that you are behind this crime, we will track you down and you will face the serious consequences of your shameful actions.”
Earlier in the week, we reported that a man from Manchester had been arrested after racially-motivated posts were found on his Facebook page in the aftermath of the match.
The suspect, confirmed to be aged thirty-seven and from Ashton-Upon-Mersey, handed himself in at Cheadle Heath police station on July 14th, the force announced. He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of an offence under Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act and put into custody for questioning.
Detective Inspector Matt Gregory of GMP’s Trafford division said in a statement: “The actions of a small number of people overshadowed what was a hugely unifying event for our country on Sunday evening. We are firm in our commitment, any racist abuse whether online or off is not acceptable.
“We now have one man in custody and our investigation continues. If you think you have information on this post, we’d like to hear from you on 0161 856 4973, quoting incident number 109 of 12/7/2021. You can also anonymously contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Commuters could be facing the steepest rise in the cost of train travel in more than a decade just months after prices were already increased.
It has been predicted today that train prices across England and Wales could rise by nearly 5% before the New Year.
The 2021 rise in prices was delayed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic when train travel was at an all-time low, however, tickets still saw a price rise of 2.6% in March.
Abhijit Tembhekar / Flickr
And this morning, the Retail Prices Index for July 2021 was confirmed as 3.8% by the Office for National Statistics, meaning passengers could see fares rise by 4.8% in 2022, which would be the largest hike since 2012.
This means that the cost of rail travel could increase twice within ten months, and would see a Manchester-Glasgow off-peak return rise by £6.30 to £94.90, according to Metro.
Though all hope isn’t yet gone – changes to the fares in 2022 are still yet to be confirmed.
Jon David Houghton / Wikimedia Commons
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “No decision has been made on national rail fares.
“The government is considering a variety of options and we will announce our decision in due course.”
This news has come as train travel in Manchester and beyond is on the rise – earlier this month, we reported that zero cases of Covid were found in Manchester Piccadilly Train Station, despite thousands of commuters using the station’s services as offices reopen.
News
UK to welcome more than 20,000 refugees following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan
Reports claim that a number of these refugees will be housed in hotels near Manchester Airport
Heroic school boy clears 18 tonnes of rubbish which had been fly-tipped along country road
Kind-hearted Mancunians thanked after charity receives huge donations for Afghan refugees
Manchester has a new Indian bottomless brunch with fizz and cocktails like mango mimosas
Americans are baffled at how far people actually walk in the UK
Train fares set to increase again in ‘biggest hike’ for a decade
