Walker feels 'harassed' after scrutiny over family visit during lockdown

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Kyle Walker has complained of harassment after the British media published photographs and wrote stories of him visiting family in Sheffield on Wednesday amid the country's coronavirus lockdown.

The Manchester City right-back could already face disciplinary action from his club after breaking COVID-19 protocol to host an alleged sex party in April. After his latest transgression, Walker took to Twitter to defend his actions and question the recent public scrutiny he has faced.

"I have recently gone through one of the toughest periods of my life, which I take full responsibility for. However, I now feel as though I am being harassed. This is no longer solely affecting me, but affecting the health of my family and my young children, too," Walker said.

"In relation to the events on Wednesday, I traveled to Sheffield to give my sister a birthday card and present, but also to speak to one of the few people I believe I can trust in my life," he continued. "She hugged me to remind me that she cares and that I am loved. What am I meant to do - push her away?

"I then traveled to my parents' house to pick up some home-cooked meals. Again, it's been an extremely tough couple of months for them: Everything I've gone through in my life, they have gone through with me."

Manchester City are not expected to act on Walker's contravention of COVID-19 regulations Wednesday due to the extenuating circumstances of his trip, the Guardian's Jamie Jackson understands.

In addition to explaining his visit, Walker also said he feels unsafe in his own home while the media dissects him and his loved ones.

"My family has been torn apart, this has been dragged through the press, and I ask: When is enough enough?" he said. "At a time when the focus is understandably on COVID-19, at what point does mental health get taken into consideration, an illness which affects every sufferer differently?"

Walker added: "I am a human being, with feelings of pain and upset just like everybody else."