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Marcus Rashford racially abused by teacher after Europa League defeat

The footballer said he received at least '70 racial slurs' just hours after Manchester United lost in the Europa League Final.

The Manc The Manc - 27th May 2021

Marcus Rashford has been targeted with a torrent of racial abuse in the wake of Manchester United’s Europa League final defeat.

The footballer said he’d received dozens of racist messages following United’s game in Poland on Wednesday (May 26) – which the Red Devils lost on penalties to Villarreal.

Posting on Twitter after the match, Rashford revealed there had been “at least 70 racial slurs” sent to his social media accounts.

One of the abusive messages was from a maths teacher.

Rashford posted: “At least 70 racial slurs on my social accounts counted so far. For those working to make me feel any worse than I already do, good luck trying.

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He added: “I’m more outraged that one of the abusers that left a mountain of monkey emojis in my DM is a maths teacher with an open profile. He teaches children!! And knows that he can freely racially abuse without consequence…”

The incident is already reigniting conversations about the need for social media to tackle discrimination – with the abuse against Rashford coming just weeks after English football boycotted platforms as a show of solidarity against racism.

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Many of Rashford’s 4.4 million followers have since rushed to support the striker – who has been widely hailed as the ultimate role model during the pandemic.

Rashford made headlines off the field in 2020 for forcing the government into two separate U-turns over free school meals, earning himself a direct line to No. 10 in the process.

He also launched a book club (working with football journalist Carl Anka to produce a book titled YOU are a Champion in a bid to ‘inspire children who dream big’) and teamed up with Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge to help families cook healthy meals on a budget.

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A documentary on Rashford’s work to ‘feed Britain’s children’ aired on BBC One in December.

Featured image: @MarcusRashford

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Tameside police officers hailed ‘absolute heroes’ after saving the life of a seven-year-old girl

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Two Tameside police officers have been hailed as “absolute heroes” after saving the life of a seven-year-old little girl.

It comes after emergency services were called to an address in the Greater Manchester borough of Tameside earlier this week (29 November), and found a young girl who was struggling to breath and coughing up blood after choking on a sweet.

Police Constables Aaron Kincaid and James Blundell, from Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Tameside division, were first on the scene.

To the huge relief of the girl’s parents, who were said to be “understandably distressed” and concerned for her welfare, PC Kincaid jumped straight into action and was able to utilise his first aid training to full effect by going on to successfully dislodge the sweet from the youngster’s throat, and then helping to calm her down before the paramedics arrived.

Whilst PC Kincaid looked after the little girl, PC Blundell did “everything he could” to help the parents remain calm.

Paramedics then took over once they arrived, and the young girl was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Reflecting on the incident, and hailing his officers “absolute heroes”, Superintendent Mike Walsh, from GMP’s Tameside district, said: “PCs Aaron Kincaid and James Blundell acted without hesitation during the incident, and took control of the situation that they were faced with.

“They deserve every credit for staying calm under extreme pressure and for working together as a team and utilising their training to lifesaving effect, and I’m sure the girl’s parents and family will consider them to be absolute heroes.”

“We’re both glad that we were in the right place at the right time,” PC Kincaid added.

“I have a daughter the same age as the little girl who needed our help, and I cannot tell you how much of a relief it was when she started breathing normally and said she was okay after I had managed to dislodge the sweet.

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“I remember saying, ‘Thank God for that’.

“The little girl gave me a thank you hug before she went to hospital, but I couldn’t have done what I did without PC Blundell’s assistance, so it was a real team effort.”

Featured Image – GMP

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Someone has plastered posters advertising ‘authorised drug zones’ all over Manchester city centre

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson The fake posters promoting crack and heroin zones.

Posters promoting ‘authorised’ drug use and sales have appeared all over Manchester today.

The posters even include Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council logos – though, obviously, without the consent of either authority.

The fake posters have also been springing up in other cities, with locals in Leeds spotting them all over the place yesterday.

They read: “Crack and heroin zone. The sale and use of Crack and Heroin is authorised in this area.”

The fake posters have been spotted outside the Central Library and in the Northern Quarter, as well as at locations in other parts of the city.

They were quickly removed by authorities, who say they were posted illegally.

West Yorkshire Police said yesterday: “We are aware of fake posters that have been illegally posted at locations in and around Leeds city centre and are making further enquiries.”

Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council have also been approached for comment.

Manchester mayoral candidate Nick Buckey wrote on X: “The lack of action to the drug epidemic in Greater Manchester is so huge that people thought these posters were legitimate.

“When jokes seems like reality then we know we have a problem.”

It appears that the group behind the drug posters project is Pattern Up, a ‘young artist collective from Brighton making their mark on the streets with provocative and witty installations’.

Plenty of people seem to have fallen for the stunt, believing it’s real, with one person posting on Instagram: “Can’t find anything online so surely fake news unless someone has a source.”

Another wrote: “Hahaha f*ck off this can’t be legit.”

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Featured image: User submission

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