  West Ham United's English striker Carlton Cole gestures during the 2012 Championship play-off final football match between West Ham United and Blackpool at Wembley Stadium in London on May 19, 2012. AFP PHOTO/IAN KINGTON |
A man has been arrested in connection with racist Twitter messages sent to West Ham United footballer Carlton Cole, Essex Police confirmed on Sunday.
The 22-year-old man from Southend, Essex, wrote two posts on Saturday following West Ham’s 3-0 Premier League defeat at Swansea City.
The tweets questioned Cole’s performance and used a racist term to describe him. The 28-year-old forward retweeted the comments from his CarltonCole1 account.
Essex Police said on their own Twitter account: “Police have arrested a 22 year old from Southend following tweets to carltoncole1. Investigation ongoing.”
An Essex police spokeswoman told Reuters: “The man has been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence following tweets sent to Carlton Cole.”
