Estate agent arrested ‘over racist tweet about black England stars’
An estate agent has been arrested after racist tweets about black England football stars were posted on his social media account.
Andrew Bone, 37, called for police to investigate and presented himself at Cheadle Heath police station this morning, where he was arrested on suspicion of an offence under the Malicious Communications Act.
Savills suspended the commercial building manager pending an investigation after Bone claimed his account was hacked.
A racist message was posted on his profile moments after Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho missed their penalties in Sunday’s Euro 2020 final against Italy.
Officers were seen searching Bone’s home in Greater Manchester before leaving with a laptop.
Detective Inspector Matt Gregory said: ‘The actions of a small number of people overshadowed what was a hugely unifying event for our country on Sunday evening.
‘We are firm in our commitment, any racist abuse whether online or off is not acceptable. We now have one man in custody and our investigation continues.’
Earlier this week, Savills responded by launching an investigation into the ‘appalling’ comments.
The company said on Twitter: ‘Savills is committed to eliminating discrimination and encouraging diversity amongst our workforce. A full investigation will be carried out in regards to this unacceptable incident.
‘Savills abhors and has zero tolerance to any form of racism and racial discrimination and is appalled by the racist comments in these tweets. Savills is immediately investigating and will take appropriate action.’
They later confirmed ‘the staff member connected with the racist comments’ claimed ‘his account was taken over by a third party’, adding that the matter had been passed on to police.
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