A South Cumbrian man has admitted sending abuse in direct messages to a Premier League footballer.
Harry Brown, 25, of Maple Street, Barrow, targeted Brazilian-born Fulham player Rodrigo Muniz twice after the centre forward had scored goals in home and away matches against Liverpool last season.
On Saturday December 14 2024, Mr Muniz scored for Fulham against Liverpool in a 2-2 Premier League draw on Merseyside.
Following the end of that fixture, he received a message which stated “f****** slave” and “hope your family gets hurt”.
On April 6 this year, Brown sent more abuse in another direct message after Mr Muniz played again as Fulham beat Liverpool 3-2 in a return league fixture between the two sides.
“On that occasion the complainant had scored in the fixture,” prosecutor George Shelley told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court, “and at the same time the defendant sent a message on Instagram: ‘hope your family dies’.”
Brown also sent a monkey emoji to the player.
At court today, Brown admitted sending an electronic communication to Mr Muniz on two separate occasions, for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety to the player. The charges were brought under the Malicious Communications Act 1988.
Mr Muniz described having no previous contact from the Instagram account before the offences occurred, and had screenshotted the content.
“I was disgusted and offended by these comments,” he said in a statement.
In Mr Muniz’s opinion, the monkey emoji and use of the term slave had been sent in a racial context due to his heritage.
He added: “My family still live in Brazil. This makes the comments worse.
Brown fully admitted the offences when interviewed by police, and had committed no previous offences.
No mitigation was offered at this stage by Brown’s solicitor, Trystan Roberts, after a district judge concluded that the case should be adjourned for the preparation of a probation service pre-sentence report.
Brown remains on bail and is due to be sentenced at the Carlisle court on January 226.
He remains subject to bail conditions which ban him from being inside designated geographical areas before after football matches involving both Barrow and England.
An application by Cumbria police for a football banning order is also due to be considered at the next court hearing.
