Crime

Wales: Footballer fined £500 for anti-gay Tom Daley tweet

Nov 28 2012
Written by Scott Roberts

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

A Welsh footballer has been fined £500 and handed a one-match suspension for sending an abusive message to Olympic diver Tom Daley on Twitter.

Port Talbot Town midfielder Daniel Thomas was cleared of any charges earlier this year by police after tweeting a homophobic message relating to Daley and his diving partner Peter Waterfield’s performance at the London 2012 Olympics in July.

A tweet subsequently appeared on the footballer’s account that said: “If there is any consolation for finishing fourth at least Daley and Waterfield can go and bum each other #teamHIV.”

According to a club statement released at the time, Mr Thomas had been the victim of a “prank” and both Port Talbot FC and the footballer apologised “unreservedly” for the incident.

In September, the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, said while the tweet may be offensive it was not considered a “grossly” criminal act.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) have taken their own action and decided to hit the player with a suspension and fine of £500 after it was deemed that his tweet was likely to bring the game into disrepute.

A Port Talbot Town spokesman said: “The club accepts what the FAW has said. We don’t have any further comment to make.”