Officers have interviewed a man following reports of racial abuse at a football match.
Crowds had gathered to watch the Notts County match at Meadow Lane on Tuesday (8 February 2022) when a man is reported to have started shouting racial slurs at a player.
The incident was reported to stewards and officers at the time and shortly after a suspect handed himself in to police. A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.
Detective Inspector Marcus Oldroyd, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Police were made aware of an allegation of racist abuse which led to a man being ejected from the ground at the Notts County match.
“A man handed himself in to police a short time later. He was arrested and has since been questioned. Our investigation into the incident continues with a view to achieving a community resolution, which will recognise the severity of the behaviour by the individual and educate the offender, while considering the wishes of the victim.
“There is no place for racism or any kind of hate in Nottinghamshire and any allegations of hate related abuse will be investigated. We understand the impacts of these types of offences on victims who will be provided support.
In a statement, Barnet FC said: “We would like to thank Nottinghamshire Police and Notts County for their handling of the incident thus far and also extend our thanks to the Notts County players, staff and fans who offered their support to Rob Hall.
“The Club has today been in contact with Kick It Out regarding the incident and has also reached out to Rob to ensure he is ok. We are here to fully support Rob and any of our players and staff affected by the incident.”
Notts County support the decision, stating that there is no place for racism in football, and will be issuing a lifetime ban to the individual from entering Meadow Lane stadium
Chief Executive Jason Turner said: “On behalf of the club I would like to thank the many supporters who helped us quickly identify this individual, along with our safety team and stewards for their prompt and professional handling of the situation.“Our records suggest the man is not a regular attendee at or matches and we are pleased that this isolated incident has been dealt with swiftly.
“The actions we have taken demonstrate our zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination and, while reports of these incidents are incredibly rare at Meadow Lane, we would encourage all supporters to report any comments or behaviours of concern at future matches to their nearest steward as quickly as possible.
“We also offer an anonymous matchday text message service, details of which are shared on our scoreboards and via our PA system at every home match.”
