Police arrest a 15-year-old boy from Hartlepool after Luton defender Peter Kioso was sent racial abuse on social media as the Hatters celebrated staying in the Championship
- A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after Luton star Peter Kioso was sent abuse
- The defender received an abhorrent comment during an Instagram live feed
- Kioso had been celebrating with his club after they stayed in the Championship
Police have arrested a 15-year-old boy from the Hartlepool area after Luton defender Peter Kioso received vile racist abuse on Instagram.
Kioso said he was celebrating with his team last week after Luton confirmed their place in the Championship when he was sent the abhorrent remark, which said ‘you look like a monkey’.
Now Cleveland police have confirmed they made an arrest after the comments, with the individual released while they continue their investigation.
Peter Kioso, right, has shared sickening abuse sent to him after he celebrated Luton staying up
A police statement said: ‘On Friday 24 July 2020, a 15-year-old male from the Hartlepool area was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence in connection with comments made to a Luton Town Football Club player on a social media platform.
‘The comments are believed to have been made on a live Instagram feed on the evening of Wednesday 22 July. The male has been released under investigation whilst enquiries continue.’
Kioso, who joined Luton from Hartlepool last summer, said he was reluctant to ‘ruin the moment’ of surviving relegation by revealing the sickening abuse, but has now come forward to show ‘how things still are in 2020’.
He said he was reluctant to reveal the abuse last week as he didn’t want to ‘ruin the moment’
Kioso said: ‘In 2020 seriously come on, a fan that used to sing my name wants to be doing this.
‘This happened on Wednesday night after the boys and I were celebrating such a big thing that we did and I was not going to let that ruin the moment,’ he wrote on Twitter.
‘But now that everything has calmed down, I feel like I [should] shed light on it to let everyone know how things still are in 2020.’
It is the latest case of a footballer suffering racist abuse after Wilfried Zaha and David McGoldrick were targeted by comments this month.
Palace striker Zaha received abuse before playing Aston Villa, with police arresting a 12-year-old, while McGoldrick had screenshotted a vile message after he scored in a 3-0 win over Chelsea.