Worcestershire man arrested in connection with racist Marcus Rashford tweets

West Mercia Police said a man from Powick, near Worcester, was arrested following the reports of an inappropriate tweet sent on Sunday, July 11. He has been released under investigation.

Inspector Pete Nightingale said: "We encourage people to make these reports and are pleased with the speed at which we have been able to deal with this incident.

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"We continue to work with the local football community and have links with the local clubs to ensure that this behaviour is dealt with appropriately.

"We would encourage anyone who has been a victim of hate crime to get in touch with us via our online reporting function or by heading to https://www.report-it.org.uk."

A tweet posted on Sunday night following England's defeat against Italy came from Nick Scott's Twitter account but he says he had "nothing to do with it".

An offensive tweet read: "@MarcusRashford that MBE needs burning ya fake. Pack them bags and get to ya own country."

It was later deleted.

Mr Scott said: "I am getting loads of grief over this. I was hacked. I would never write anything like that.

"As soon as I woke up I deleted the tweet. I don't know who did it or why, but these things happen all the time don't they? I love football.

"I am a family man. I know how the sport works. I would never tweet anything like that."

Wovernhampton Wanderers football club released a statement after the tweet.

The statement says "vile abuse" will not be tolerated, and all accounts "dehumanising players" will be blocked and reported.

The statement from the Wolves official Twitter page on Monday read: "Thank you for alerting us to a racist tweet sent by a Wolves 'fan' last night.

"It has been reported to our hate crime officer and police and we will wholly support and assist any investigation.

"Vile abuse like this will not be tolerated at Wolves.

"We want our social media platforms to be kind and respectful; free from hate, discrimination and abuse.

"We will block accounts that bring hate to our channels, or dehumanise and target our players, staff and supporters.

"Acts of hate crime will be reported to the police.

"We will continue to promote equality and we are committed to making our channels inclusive for everyone.

"If you see a comment on our official channels, that promotes hate towards race, colour, gender, nationality, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexuality, sex, age or class, please contact help@wolves.co.uk with the URL of the post in question."