Twitter ban for accused Nic Nat abuser
A man accused of sending a series of racist tweets to West Coast superstar Nic Naitanui has been banned by a magistrate from setting up a new Twitter account.
Vinh Nguyen, 38, of Bedford, faced a magistrate in Perth today, charged with three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence under the Commonwealth Criminal Code.
Mr Nguyen did not enter a plea.
In one tweet, Mr Nguyen was alleged to have called Nic Naitanui a “black n...”, while in a another he allegedly told the All-Australian ruckman he would love to meet him “so I can bash your tall black ass”.
In court, Mr Nguyen was ordered not to contact Naitanui or any other West Coast player.
And magistrate Felicity Zempilas also made it a condition of Mr Nguyen's bail that he not open another Twitter account under another name, after his original account was suspended.
West Coast originally referred the tweets to the police, while the Eagles star offered his own help to Mr Nguyen.
“Education is the key my man! Would happily devote my time to help him see beyond colour #yougoinlearntoday,” Naitanui tweeted in response to one of the messages.
Mr Nguyen had earlier said he was unapologetic about the tweets, saying he was "trolling" Naitanui - despite the maximum penalty for the offence being three years jail.
Mr Nguyen’s Twitter account remains suspended, although he maintains a social media presence via a YouTube account with the username "lusciouspimp".
Mr Nguyen is back in court in May.
