Man charged over Nic Nat slurs
Police have charged a Bedford man in relation to an alleged series of abusive tweets directed at West Coast Eagles star Nic Naitanui.
Officers from the State security investigation group attended Vinh Nguyen's home yesterday and served him with a search warrant.
The 38-year-old was last night charged with three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence under the Commonwealth Criminal Code.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of three years jail.
West Coast officials alerted police on Friday after Mr Nguyen allegedly took to Twitter to abuse Naitanui, who is of Fijian heritage.
In one tweet, Mr Nguyen allegedly referred to Naitanui as a "black n….." while Mr Nguyen also allegedly told the ruckman he would love to meet him "so I can bash your tall black ass".
An Eagles spokesman said the club was aware police had spoken to Naitanui earlier this week but it would not be taking the matter any further.
As of yesterday Mr Nguyen's Twitter account had been suspended. He is due to face court at a later date.
A spokeswoman for the social media site said it did not comment on individual users but believed "all Australians should have a safe experience on Twitter".
