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Ben Flower: Rugby league punch player death threats probed | Ben Flower: Rugby league punch player death threats probed |
(35 minutes later) | |
Death threats made against Wigan rugby league player Ben Flower, who punched an opponent as he lay on the ground, are being investigated by police. | Death threats made against Wigan rugby league player Ben Flower, who punched an opponent as he lay on the ground, are being investigated by police. |
A series of abusive Twitter remarks were posted on an account on Tuesday, directed to Flower, who was sent off in Saturday's Super League Grand Final. | A series of abusive Twitter remarks were posted on an account on Tuesday, directed to Flower, who was sent off in Saturday's Super League Grand Final. |
Flower received a six-month ban for hitting St Helens stand-off Lance Hohaia. | Flower received a six-month ban for hitting St Helens stand-off Lance Hohaia. |
One comment on the single account said Flower's "last days are approaching". | One comment on the single account said Flower's "last days are approaching". |
Other Twitter messages said that Flower "deserves to be shot", adding that he is a "dead man". | |
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) tweeted: "We've been made aware of abusive social media activity about the Rugby League Grand Final. Please be reassured that we are looking into this." | |
More than 70,000 fans at Old Trafford and millions of television viewers saw the player hit Hohaia, who lay motionless on the ground just two minutes into the match. | More than 70,000 fans at Old Trafford and millions of television viewers saw the player hit Hohaia, who lay motionless on the ground just two minutes into the match. |
St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus said after the ban: "We must assist [Flower] in any way that we can and accept him back into the sport. There is a person behind the player, and I am reliably informed by all that it is a good one." | St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus said after the ban: "We must assist [Flower] in any way that we can and accept him back into the sport. There is a person behind the player, and I am reliably informed by all that it is a good one." |
Mr McManus also said of the punching incident: "These matters have to be dealt with by the appropriate body within the game and it has so been." | |
A GMP spokesman said any decision to take action against Flower would depend on conversations it had with St Helens. |
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