UK Edition
Devout Christian becomes first online troll to be convicted in landmark referee abuse case
Australian sentenced for abusing referee from England v Samoa match after World Rugby ramps up its bid to silence online trolls
A rugby fan in Australia has been convicted for abusing match officials online in a landmark court case, following last year’s World Cup match between England and Samoa.
Aaron Isaia, a 22-year-old youth worker, was convicted by Australian authorities of one count of using a carriage service to menace or harass via online communication, after pleading guilty.
Isaia, described as a devout Christian, sent abusive messages on Facebook to the television match official, Brian MacNeice, and his wife, reportedly mentioning their children. The defendant received a $1,000 (£522) 12-month suspended fine.
Officials came under fire in the match after Samoa were denied a third try in the first half for a knock-on in the build-up, with England going on to claim a narrow 18-17 win in Lille.
The perpetrator was identified through the Threat Matrix service used by Signify Group, who have since extended their partnership with World Rugby and will now monitor for abusive content targeting all World Rugby appointed men’s and women’s match officials and their families over the next three years.
Alan Gilpin, World Rugby’s chief executive, said: “World Rugby welcomes this landmark outcome. The vile and toxic abuse is an all too common occurrence for many sports men and women and public figures, and we hope that this sends a very strong message to online trolls that such behaviour is totally unacceptable and that the sport and the authorities are prepared to take action.
“We are delighted to be extending our relationship with Signify Group to tackle online abuse in our sport. In addition to the support provided to our match officials, the partnership has enabled us to focus on the insights that help us better understand the triggers, tactics and threats and how best to mitigate them.”
MacNeice was also criticised following the final decision in France’s win over Scotland at Murrayfield during the Six Nations, when Scotland’s Sam Skinner appeared to ground the ball over the try line only for a lack of evidence to mean the try could not be awarded by the TMO.