Man arrested over racist and hateful tweets relating to Chelsea FC

He has been released under investigation

A 21-year-old man has been arrested in relation to a series of hate crime messages he sent on Twitter throughout 2020.

A Met Police Twitter account providing updates on Chelsea FC announced on Monday that Met Police Football Unit officers, assisted by members of the Nottingham force, arrested a man at a Retford address under the Malicious Communications Act.

The offensive tweets were brought to the police’s attention by Chelsea Football Club, who helped to identify the suspect.

“The male was interviewed at a police station and released under investigation,” the short thread concluded.

In response to the news of the arrest, Chelsea posted a statement on Twitter, saying: “We welcome today’s arrest which shows that hateful messages shared on social media do have consequences.

“We continue to work closely with the police to support their investigations on this important issue.”

We welcome today’s arrest which shows that hateful messages shared on social media do have consequences.

We continue to work closely with the police to support their investigations on this important issue. https://t.co/zTBdt6Ae5m

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 8, 2021

Inspector Matt Ashmead from the Metropolitan Police’s Central Football Unit, added: “This action proves that the internet is no safe refuge for trolls to target people with hateful, offensive or racist abuse.