Sky Sports reporter Michelle Owen shares sickening abuse she receives from Twitter trolls - ranging from sexist remarks to being told her son will grow up to dislike her - days after being targeted when she missed a red card on Soccer Special
- Presenter Michelle Owen said she was temporarily 'checking out' from Twitter
- Owen received abuse on social media after missing a red card while live on Sky
- Despite clarifying the pillar blocked her view, the vile messages have continued
- After posting several comments, Owen called for an increase in accountability
TV presenter Michelle Owen has shared a handful of sickening and abusive messages she has been subjected to on social media.
Many of the vile remarks have sexist undertones, with one person labelling her a 'useless woman football reporter', and come in the wake of Owen being targeted after missing a sending-off on Sky Sports' Soccer Special programme.
Owen, who has worked with Sky Sports for seven years, didn't see a red card shown during Walsall's League Two fixture with Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday night.
TV presenter Michelle Owen has shared a host of vile and abusive messages she has received
Owen took to Twitter to demand more accountability and has labelled the experience 'tiring'
Jeff Stelling, the anchor of the show, crossed to Owen for a live update and suggested that the evening had taken another turn for the worse for the visitors.
After suggesting she had 'done a Kammy (Chris Kamara)' by failing to spot a key incident, Owen was left perplexed. She soon realised that Jay Spearing was sent off, having initially believed the midfielder was substituted.
Despite clarifying on Twitter that a poorly positioned pillar blocked her view of proceedings, Owen was trolled for the error. The backlash saw her announce that she was 'checking out' from the platform due to the 'mean messages'.
It appears that the abusive posts have continued to flood her way, however.
Owen (right) has been criticised after missing a sending-off during Walsall's fixture against Tranmere whilst live on Sky Sports - (pictured left: Soccer Special host Jeff Stelling)
Stelling called on trolls to 'stop' as he came to the defence of the 'outstanding' Owen
Owen, sharing a number of them with her 80,500 Twitter followers, questioned why there is not more 'accountability' for accounts freely hurling slurs.
'Woke up to more of this,' she wrote. 'It happens far too often to too many people, someone could aim their words at the wrong person with terrible consequences.
'When are social media platforms going to give accounts accountability? It’s just tiring.'
Stelling, in response to Owen's post, tweeted: 'Distraught to hear about the abuse @MichelleOwen7 has been receiving. She is an outstanding reporter and presenter who I love working with. She happens to be a great person as well. She does not deserve this vitriol - no one does. Let’s all please stop.'
One of the posts outed by Owen described her as 'clueless' compared to Colin Murray, a fellow presenter.
The comments shared by Owen have taken on a sexist undertone after her unfortunate error
'That's a low ball also struggled to read autocue but that might be Quest TV fault after all it's filmed in the back of a skip somewhere in London (sic),' it added.
A second comment read: 'Get another job. Fed up with another useless woman football reporter.'
Another vile remark, this time posted on Instagram, suggested that Owen's child would resent her.
'You are an absolute disgrace as a so called mother,' it said. 'The lad will grow up to dislike you so much.'
Troy Townsend has staunchly defended Owen and took a swipe at the social media guidelines
Kick It Out's Troy Townsend leapt to Owen's defence and took a swipe at the loose rules on social media.
He wrote: 'All deemed acceptable by these platforms because their community guidelines are a joke. Don't worry about the impact and traumatic experience for individuals on the receiving end, you just let free speech reign.'
Notably, Owen was presenting highlights on Quest and not working for Sky Sports on Saturday.
The abuse directed at the presenter is part of a spate of sickening comments penned by users, who are sometimes anonymous, to people involved in sport.
Owen said she was 'checking out' from Twitter after slurs were directed at her during the week
Footballers, including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Tyrone Mings and Son Heung-min, have been sent racist abuse in recent weeks.
As a result, and in the hope of forcing positive change, Premier League clubs are set to launch a social media blackout at the start of next month.
The proposals, named the 'Weekend of Action', would take place from May 1 to May 3 - and each top-flight outfit will fall silent on their platforms for a 24-hour period around their scheduled fixtures.
Sportsmail has seen the plans, which have been drafted in the wake of an increasing number of discriminatory incidents in recent weeks.
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