A Singaporean identified as Derek Ng De Ren could go to prison or pay a huge fine for sending death threats to Brighton striker, Neal Maupay and his family in June 2020.
Derek, a 19-year-old Arsenal fan was so frustrated that Neal Maupay scored a last-minute goal against Arsenal in June 2020 after the 24-year-old French striker had injured Arsenal’s goalkeeper, Bernd Leno.
Recall that in the Premier League match which was played on June 20, 2020, and ended 2-1 in favor of Brighton, Neal Maupay scored in the 90th minute to give Brighton a 2-1 win during the 2020-2021 season.
During the game, Maupay injured Arsenal’s goalkeeper. The injury was so bad that the goalkeeper had to be carried on a stretcher out of the game.
The Premier League game attracted a lot of tension both on and off the pitch. And the Singaporean decided to join in the fight by taking to Instagram to send death threats to Neal Maupay and his family.
Since then, the incident has been under investigation; the Singaporean was arrested and taken to court during the process. The conviction became easier for the prosecutors when Derek pleaded guilty.
Hence, on July 7, 2021, the Singaporean will be sentenced to either two years imprisonment or pay a fine worth about £10,000 over the death threats he sent to Neal Maupay.
The conviction is seen as the first conviction that has been successfully carried out against social media troller especially now that the rate of social media abuse is increasing exponentially.
Maupay said: “The vile and toxic abuse is a daily occurrence for many professional athletes and public figures.
“I hope this goes some way to showing those online trolls that it is totally unacceptable and that the authorities are prepared to take the necessary action.”
While Brighton chief executive Paul Barber said: “Even where posts are anonymous, we will use all available legal resources to identify perpetrators.
“Abuse, trolling and online hate of any nature won’t be tolerated.”
According to reports, the English FA, the Premier League, Brighton & Hove Albion, Singapore police, and the Singaporean government were said to be part of the bodies that synergized for the success of the case.
A 19-year-old man pleaded guilty in Singapore to sending online death threats to Brighton footballer, Neal Maupay.
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) June 2, 2021
Reporter Nick Marsh tells #BBCBreakfast more ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Le2QwMCE1h
