Judge says fan who mocked Bradley Lowery death 'utterly deplorable'

A judge has labelled the actions of a football supporter who mocked the death of mascot Bradley Lowery during a match against his favourite team as "utterly deplorable".

Dale Houghton, 31, admitted a public order offence at Sheffield Magistrates' Court following an incident during Sheffield Wednesday's clash with Sunderland in the Championship on Friday.

Pictures circulated on X, formerly Twitter, showed two men laughing at Wednesday's Hillsborough Stadium, with one of them - Houghton - holding up a picture of Lowery to the camera.

Lowery attracted widespread public sympathy in Britain while suffering with neuroblastoma, but died from the illness aged six in 2017.

He was a mascot for northeast club Sunderland and, in the months before his death, led England out at Wembley alongside former Black Cats striker Jermain Defoe.

Houghton, from Rotherham, was bailed and will be sentenced on November 17.

District Judge James Gould told him "your actions are utterly deplorable" and that all sentence options were open, including a prison sentence.