Man, 59, arrested over 'disgusting racist abuse' of England Lionesses hero Jess Carter

Police investigating vile racial abuse sent to Lionesses star Jess Carter have arrested a man in relation to the messages she received during the Women's Euros last month. Carter, 27, announced she was stepping away from social media after receiving horrific abuse during the tournament in Switzerland.

The Football Association called in British police to investigate the matter and officers have now arrested a 59-year-old man from Lancashire on suspicion of malicious communications. The suspect from Great Harwood, Lancs has been released pending further investigation, Cheshire Police said.

Cheshire Constabulary Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chief Council (NPCC) lead for football policing, said: “The messages directed towards Jess Carter were appalling and I would like to commend her for standing up to this abuse and assisting with our investigation.

"Nobody should be subjected to such disgusting abuse, and I expect that today’s arrest will be the first of many over the coming months.

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“We want to make it clear that racist abuse of this nature will not be tolerated. Everyone is responsible for what they do and say, and we want to ensure offenders cannot hide behind a social media profile to post vile comments.”

The Lionesses, who made history by winning the European Championship on foreign soil, stopped taking the knee over the abuse levelled at their teammate. An investigation was launched by the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU), working in partnership with social media companies to identify the people responsible.

Police Constable Dan Fish from Lancashire Constabulary said: “Lancashire Police does not tolerate hate of any form, either in person or online.

“I hope this arrest sends out a clear message that Lancashire Police will leave no stone unturned in identifying those who engage in such unacceptable behaviour – no matter how long it takes.”

England's players, manager Sarina Wiegman and FA chief Mark Bullingham all rallied around Carter after she received the abuse, with Bullingham demanding social media companies do more to tackle online hate.

Comparing the messages to those received by England men's stars Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford after the Euro 2020 final, Bullingham said: “We did think things would improve [after those messages] and we lobbied very hard together with Kick it Out and other representatives in football to make sure the Online Harms Act came through.

“I think we would have liked it to have been stronger in some cases – if you look at the specific areas like ‘legal but harmful’ and things like that. There’s a real risk that if we’re not firm in how the act is implemented, it won’t be as strong as we hope.

“I think now it’s incumbent on Ofcom to make sure they really do bring those responsible for running social media platforms to account and I haven’t seen huge progress in the last couple of years. We would like to see it now."

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