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Stan Collymore reveals new Twitter death threats - and says site should do more

Football pundit Stan Collymore has received fresh death threats and vile abuse on Twitter after becoming the target of sick internet trolls.

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Staffordshire Police are investigating the offensive messages directed at the ex-England striker but he today accused Twitter of not doing enough.

The former Aston Villa and Stafford Rangers player, from Cannock, sparked a backlash of abuse after he suggested Liverpool striker Luis Suarez cheated by diving on Saturday.

Do Twitter do enough to stop abusive messages? Vote in our poll below and have your say in the comments section:

Collymore has named and shamed the trolls by retweeting some of the abuse he has received since the match against Villa to his 503,000 followers – including death threats.

During an interview today he told of his torment. He said: "It's quite horrible. Today is my birthday and I would rather not be here."

He called for the social media website to take action and added: "I've been on it six years now and it is a fantastic tool to engage. I should not be racially abused for it. This is just sheer lunacy."

Last night Collymore posted a picture of a message he had received saying 'ur gettin murdered when I see you' and warning him to be on his guard.

Collymore, 42, last night said Staffordshire Police were taking his complaints seriously but Twitter 'aren't interested'.

Collymore said he believed Twitter was responsible for ensuring the culprits are banned.

Appearing on Radio 5 live, Collymore disagreed with listener Douglas from Glasgow about the former footballer's reaction to the abusive online messages:

Broadcaster Piers Morgan also referred details to the police. He tweeted:

Staffordshire Police confirmed that they are investigating a number of alleged criminal offences in the form of offensive and racist comments made towards Stan Collymore via Twitter

Chief Insp Carl Ratcliffe said "We will not tolerate hate crime – it has no place in our community and social media is just the same.

"Sadly some people mistakenly believe that anything said or done on Twitter or Facebook somehow doesn't count, they think it doesn't matter because it's not face-to-face, they are very wrong.

"Tweeting abuse is a very personal way of causing distress to someone, and it doesn't matter if the person is famous or not, this sort of behaviour is often illegal and can result in those responsible having to account for their behaviour in court.

"Our investigation in this case is very much ongoing, and involves a number of other police forces, and agencies. We are in regular contact with Mr Collymore, providing ongoing support and keeping him updated.

"It's important that social media users, quite rightly disgusted by the offensive messages, don't spread these messages further. If you spot an offensive post, report it via the help centres of either Twitter or Facebook, and then block it.

"We take hate crime extremely seriously and we actively encourage those affected by this to report it. Users can report hate crime offences online via www.report-it.org.uk "

It comes as Cure the NHS leader Julie Bailey demanded action by police after threats were made against her online. She was inundated with abuse and threats over her campaign for reforms after the Mid Staffs scandal.

She said she had been told by police that there was nothing they could do about the messages she has been sent.

A Twitter spokeswoman said she was unable to comment on individual users but targeted abuse was against its rules.

Do Twitter do enough to stop abusive messages? Have your say in the comments section:

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