Hitchin Town FC player on loan at Codicote FC apologises for mocking AFC Bournemouth star Harry Arter over stillborn daughter following Arsenal draw
Alfie Barker. - Credit: Archant
A Hitchin Town FC player on loan at Codicote who used Twitter to mock AFC Bournemouth star Harry Arter over his stillborn daughter has apologised.
Alfie Barker in action for Codicote. Picture: Mark Howie - Credit: Archant
Alfie Barker tweeted today: “I’m sorry for every comment made, I’d like to apologise to Harry Arter and his family for such disgraceful comments and I’m sorry... from the bottom of my heart.”
Last night, after Arsenal came back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Bournemouth, 18-year-old Barker tweeted Arter twice, first saying: “At least you didn’t lose your kid.”
The forward – who is from Stevenage and went to The Barclay School – then added: “Big hype just for a disappointment like the nine months leading up to your child’s birth.”
Hitchin Town boss Mark Burke said this morning that the comments were ‘vile’ and that an investigation was underway.
The tweets made to Harry Arter by Hitchin Town FC player Alfie Barker, who is presently on loan at Codicote FC. - Credit: Archant
Codicote FC stated that they were ‘disgusted and appalled’, with Barker’s Codicote strike partner Marc Arnott adding that it was ‘embarrassing for our club’.
The tweets were deleted at about 10.40am, with the account name changed afterwards to ‘got hacked’, with Barker’s photo removed.
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The account name was then changed to a single full stop.
The sick messages refer to when Arter lost his baby daughter Renee at birth in December 2015. He has a tattoo dedicated to her on his arm.
Harry Arter playing for AFC Bournemouth. Photo: Adam Davy/PA Wire. - Credit: PA
AFC Bournemouth have reported the posts to Twitter.
Barker’s apology comes after the comments were condemned by dozens of other Twitter users, with one writing: “You sick, evil individual. How can you make such a tweet about something that gives a lifetime of heartbreak?”
Another had added: “Horrendous thing to say, I bet your mother is really proud of you right now. Be a man and apologise.”
