Bradley Lowery: Football fan Dale Houghton avoids jail after mocking death of child mascot
A football fan who mocked the death of child mascot Bradley Lowery has been spared jail – as a judge branded his actions “utterly appalling”.
Dale Houghton, from Rotherham, received a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court and was ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work.
The 32-year-old, who had been a Sheffield Wednesday season ticket holder for 25 years, was also given a five-year football banning order.
Bradley was diagnosed with rare cancer neuroblastoma when he was just 18 months old and died aged six in 2017.
Bradley Lowery in 2016
Houghton – who pleaded guilty to a public order offence in October – was seen holding up a picture of Bradley and laughing in the stands at Sheffield Wednesday’s match against Sunderland at Hillsborough Stadium on Friday 29 September.
An image of the incident was met with outrage on social media and sparked an apology from Sheffield Wednesday.
In his sentencing remarks, the judge called the actions of Houghton “utterly appalling” and “disgraceful” and said the defendant “inflicted trauma on an already bereaved family”.
District Judge Marcus Waite told Houghton: “You showed callous disrespect to a brave young man who was rightly held in the highest esteem by football fans everywhere.”
Houghton, who had been drinking before the match, left the ground when Wednesday went 2-0 down, to go to the pub, and only found out later the scale of the turmoil he had caused, prosecutor Mark Hughes said.
Connie Coombs, defending, said her client accepted his actions were “outrageous”, “deplorable”, “atrocious” and a “heinous act”.
Ms Coombs said it was “a moment of utter stupidity in the context of back-and-forth between himself and the Sunderland fans”.
She said alcohol contributed to the offence, which was “out of character”.
Bradley was a mascot for both Sunderland and England, and formed a close bond with his beloved team’s striker Jermain Defoe, who called Bradley his “best mate”.
Shortly after the incident, Defoe said he was “appalled and saddened” by Bradley’s death being mocked.
Lowery with Jermain Defoe in 2016
Bradley’s mother previously told the court that she saw a picture of Houghton’s actions on Facebook.
Mrs Lowery said it “wasn’t just disrespectful to Bradley, but also to other people as well”, and it risked causing “so much emotional trauma to other children with cancer”.
“I feel upset that these men have used this image of Bradley in order to get a reaction from the Sunderland fans,” her statement said, adding that it was “unforgivable”.
The Bradley Lowery Foundation – a charity set up by Bradley’s mother – released a statement at the time, saying: “Whatever happened to ‘cancer has no colours’ let alone respect for a family that lost their baby to cancer.”
Following the incident, more than £11,000 was raised for the foundation amid an outpouring of support.
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Read more:
Sky’s Beth Rigby running marathon in honour of ‘dearest friend’
Badenoch does not rule out local coalitions with Reform
Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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