Teenager, 17, threatened with jail after racially abusing Villa’s Tyreik Wright

A 17-year-old who sent ‘disgusting’ racial abuse via social media to Aston Villa’s Tyreik Wright has pleaded guilty at Birmingham Magistrate’s Court and been sentenced to a referral order by the judge.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sent racist messages to Wright in February of 2021 whilst the Villa youngster was on loan at Walsall.

Any breach of the order will result in the 17-year-old being placed behind bars.

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At a glance: 5 key points

• Tyreik Wright was the victim of ‘disgusting’ racial abuse via Instagram whilst on loan at Walsall in February.
• The 17-year-old offender initially denied making the comments in a police interview but later confessed.
• He today pleaded guilty to ‘sending a grossly offensive message by public communication network’ at Birmingham Magistrate’s Court.
• The teenager cannot be named for legal reasons due to being under the age of 18.
• He was handed a 12-month referral order, a restraining order for 12 months and was ordered to pay compensation of £500, prosecution costs of £100 and a victim surcharge of £22.

What’s been said

Tyreik Wright:

“I immediately felt sick to my stomach at what I had read.

“I found all the messages extremely offensive. Due to the nature of the messages I had to read the messages back twice, I was in so much shock.”

Prosecutor Simon Brownsey:

“Language such as this is utterly abhorrent.

“This impacts black footballers as a whole and it impacts our society as a whole.”

District Judge Shamim Qureshi:

“This is an outrageously disgusting offence committed by you. It’s not even posting a few words or one sentence, it’s a continuous stream of abuse.

“Because you are under 18, the law forbids publication of your name.

“Once you turn 18 there are no second chances.”

Israr Habib, of the CPS:

“I hope this case sends an important message out that racist abuse will not be tolerated. CPS West Midlands is working closely with the West Midlands Police Force Football Unit and their dedicated Hate Crime Football Officer to ensure that individuals who commit these types of offences are brought to justice.”

Background

Tyreik Wright is a 20-year-old winger who is currently on loan at Salford City from Aston Villa.

Wright has been part of Villa’s youth set up since 2018 following a move from Lakewood, a team in his home country of Ireland.

The 20-year-old is also part of Republic of Ireland’s under-21 side.

He spent the second half of the 2020/21 season on loan at Walsall which is where he was the victim of the racial abuse.

Today’s sentencing comes just over a week after a West Bromwich Albion fan was jailed for similar offences. Albion midfielder Romaine Sawyers was subject to racial comments from Simon Silwood in January 2021. Silwood received eight-weeks in prison on September 30th.

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