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A company director has been convicted over comments he made online that the Hillsborough disaster was a "great day".

Paul O’Neill was found guilty of sending malicious communications on a football forum about the tragedy in which 97 Liverpool fans died.

Manchester Magistrates' Court heard that he also called Liverpool fans "vermin".

O’Neill, of Kings Road, Old Trafford, was not in court for the trial but magistrates ruled the case could go ahead without him. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

The Liverpool fans died as a result of the crush at the FA Cup Semi-Final in Sheffield in 1989.

The court was told that O’Neill posted a number of offensive messages on a football fan forum in October 2022 about the tragedy, including a suggestion that some Liverpool fans were still alive in body bags the next day.

In evidence, Hillsborough survivor Marco Catena, 60, from Prenton, Wirral, described O’Neill’s comment as the “most evil Hillsborough-related comment ever”.

He added: “The venom in the messages. I can’t understand it.”

The disaster left Mr Catena with suicidal thoughts, nightmares and flashbacks, and O’Neill’s comments badly affected his mental health, he told the court.

The court heard excerpts from a police interview in which O’Neill admitted that he posted the messages.

He told police: “Yes that was me, I don’t dispute anything.”

O'Neill admitted to officers that his comments were “very distasteful, I shouldn’t have got involved".

The magistrates ruled his comments were grossly offensive. O'Neill is due to be sentenced at a later date.

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