[ad_1]
Former England footballer Ian Wright said he was completely shocked when a Co Kerry teenager racially abused him online.
The Tralee District Court was told that Patrick O’Brien, of Sycamore Court, Ashleigh Downs, in Tralee, abused Wright in private messages on Instagram, after losing a FIFA tournament on Playstation.
The 18-year-old will be sentenced in January after he pleaded guilty.
The court was informed that O’Brien had selected Wright as one of his players in the virtual game.
He was angry that Wright’s FIFA representation in the game hadn’t performed as well as he hoped.
The case has been before the court twice before, but a summary of the facts was presented for the first time today.
O’Brien pleaded guilty to two counts.
Sergeant Eoin Donovan, who investigated the case, told the court that O’Brien sent a series of 20 private messages to Mr. Wright on the social media platform Instagram after losing the FIFA tournament on Playstation, in which he was playing. against a friend of his.
He said the messages were the equivalent of texting Mr. Wright.
Sergeant Donovan described the messages as rude, racist and threatening. They included racist names and terms of abuse.
“If I contract the coronavirus, I will cough in your face. If I see you, I will put you on your deathbed,” O’Brien is said to have written.
Sergeant Donovan said Wright learned of the messages the next day and posted them on his social media, while expressing his disappointment.
At the same time, O’Brien woke up that morning to find his social media accounts “inundated” with messages from Ireland and abroad, Sgt. Donovan said.
He said O’Brien’s mother also received messages and brought him to the Garda station to be held accountable for his actions.
Interpol was contacted and a complaint statement was taken from Mr. Wright.
Sergeant Donovan said O’Brien made “full and frank admissions” when questioned by Gardaí.
We need your consent to upload this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage additional content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Review your data and accept it to load the content.Manage preferences
The court was told that he pleaded guilty on the first available opportunity to one count of stalking Mr. Wright and to a second count of sending a message over the phone, which was extremely offensive, obscene and threatening.
In a victim impact statement read to the court by Sergeant Donovan, Wright said he was excited and shocked by the intensity of the attacks: “I experienced racism years ago, but I am in complete shock to experience it now.”
Mr. Wright was not present in court.
In a second statement, he addressed O’Brien directly, saying that he hoped that he or those who taught him or “allowed this hatred” would learn from this and change for the future.
“Patrick, I forgive you. I believe in redemption for everyone,” Wright said in his statement.
O’Brien’s attorney, Patrick Mann, said his client had been “nothing more than 100% cooperative” with the investigation.
He said O’Brien had contacted Wright and apologized.
O’Brien has no prior convictions. Mann said that he had never had problems before and that it was unlikely that he would have them in the future.
He said O’Brien has been accepted for a place in third-level education. Since then, their social media pages have been deactivated.
Mann said there were major consequences on social media, and an Internet search for O’Brien’s name and Wright’s name returned 42 million “views.”
Judge David Waters praised Mr. Wright for the action he had taken. He said Wright was “perfectly correct” in posting the messages, which were sent to him privately, because he was denouncing racist behavior.
Judge Waters described the messages as vile and unacceptable. He said it was an aggravating factor that O’Brien had sought out and approached Wright with a message.
Judge Waters said that 100% of the responsibility and consequences rested with O’Brien.
It agreed to a request from Mr. Mann to seek a report on O’Brien from the Probation and Welfare Service, stating that he will end the case on January 27, 2021.
[ad_2]