Teen who posted 'gas chamber' online abuse at Aston Villa's Matty Cash faces jail

A teenager who told Premier League footballer Matty Cash “I hope you die in a gas chamber” in a racist post on X, formerly Twitter, about the Holocaust is facing a possible jail term.

Wesam Ibrahim, 19, tagged the Aston Villa fullback into his message which was posted on November 28 last year.

Prosecutor David Burns told Westminster magistrates court the case is about “a message sent by Mr Ibrahim via X, formerly Twitter, targeting the football player Matty Cash”.

Cash has Polish grandparents on his mother’s side, he was confirmed as a citizen of Poland in 2021, and he represented the country at the 2022 World Cup.

Ibrahim’s message was sent two days after Aston Villa’s 2-1 Premier League victory over Tottenham, in which Spurs’ Rodrigo Bentancur had to go off with an injury following a rash tackle from Cash.

Bentancur was sidelined for two-and-a-half months as a result of the tackle, and Cash faced a barrage of abuse and threatening messages on social media.

The setback for Bentancur, who was just back playing after an earlier injury, contributed for an acute injury crisis at Spurs.

No details were given in court about the motivation behind Ibrahim’s message.

District Judge Daniel Sternberg freed Ibrahim, who lives on the World’s End Estate in Chelsea, on bail until a sentencing hearing at City of London magistrates court on October 9.

A probation report is set to be drawn up on Ibrahim, and the judge warned him a possible jail term could be imposed next month.

Ibrahim pleaded guilty to causing to be sent by public communication network a grossly offensive message.