Former Savill’s manager guilty of posting racist comment on social media after Euro 2020 final

A former manager at Savill’s Estate Agency has pleaded guilty to posting a racist comment on social media following the Euro 2020 final.

Andrew Bone, 41, posted the comment shortly after 11pm on 11 July 2021, using racist language about the players who failed to score after taking penalties in the final at Wembley stadium.

Martin Brogan, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West said: “Andrew Bone took to social media to post a hateful racist comment, and in doing so, he broke the law.

“He removed the post soon after, but in the meantime the message was reported to his employer by a concerned social media user.

“Bone, thinking he could escape justice, concocted a story that he had been hacked, which he repeated to his employer, the police and the court.

“Today, when faced with the strength of the prosecution case, he eventually admitted that he had posted the comment.

"We want supporters to show their passion without crossing the line into criminality and we're working with football authorities including the Premier League and the Football Association, as well as with clubs and the police, to stamp out all types of offensive behaviour.

“Hateful and offensive comments around our national sport cause a great deal of distress and we stand ready to prosecute whenever so-called fans use racist, hateful or otherwise offensive comments, both in person and online.”

The comment posted by Bone appeared to be directed at England players, Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, who failed to score in the penalty shoot-out against Italy.

Bone removed the comment minutes after posting it, but it had been reposted by others and reported to his employer, Savill’s.

Savill’s initially suspended Bone whilst they conducted an investigation. He was later dismissed from the company.

Members of the public reported the post to the police and Bone was arrested on 14 July 2021. In interview he claimed that he had been hacked and was not responsible for the comment.

He went on to plead not guilty at court and a trial was fixed for 31 October 2024.

The investigation continued uncovering previous social media posts and cell site data was obtained showing the device used to post the comment was in the same location as Bone.

The court granted an application made by the CPS to allow those prior hateful comments on social media to be used as bad character evidence at the trial.

Having seen the strength of the evidence against him, Bone pleaded guilty on 14 November 2024 at Manchester City Magistrates Court.

He will be sentenced on 4 February 2025.