He told The Tab he ‘didn’t know why’ he sent the tweets

Three tweets mocking Aston Villa footballer Jack Grealish's dead brother were sent by a University of Salford student, The Manchester Tab can reveal.

Birmingham City supporter Alfie Perkins tweeted a picture of Jack Grealish's brother's grave, taken from the player's Instagram story, with the caption: "He might've scored but it'll never bring his dead brother back and that gives me more satisfaction than anything ever could hahahahahahahahaha".

Over 8000 Twitter users replied to the tweet and Alfie Perkins has received thousands of comments across his Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Alfie's trolling of the footballer has been written about in The Mail, The Metro, and The Sun.

Tweets recovered from Alfie's deleted account include on which read: "Grealish went down quicker than his brother got lowered into the grave."

Jack Grealish had scored the winning goal in the local derby after being punched to the ground by a pitch invader early in the game. His brother Keelan was nine months old when he died in the year 2000.

One of the replies, from The Villa Bible asked the official University of Manchester account: "Are you going to do something about this cretin who attends your uni?".

The Manchester Tab has since had confirmation Alfie Perkins is not a student at the University of Manchester or Manchester Metropolitan University.

Later on Sunday, the student pinned a tweet to his profile asking his "loyal supporters" to donate to a fictional crowdfunder to "help pay my court costs".

Alfie's Twitter account has since been removed.

His Instagram account shows him attending away games and has been flooded with abuse.

One comment reads: "You stupid prick you look like a meercat."

Another says: "I hope you find remorse in your hurtful actions and have the time to reflect on your wrongdoings."

The Manchester Tab can confirm Alfie Perkins is an undergraduate student at the University of Salford, as his email appears on the university database.

We have spoken to Alfie, who admitted he had sent the tweets, and said he "didn't really have an answer" for his actions, but declined to comment further.

The University of Salford were repeatedly approached for comment on whether Alfie Perkins was a student there and about Alfie's comments. They told The Manchester Tab: "We cannot comment on the identity of staff or students due to data protection laws."

West Midlands Police confirmed they are investigating social media posts made after the game.

Barrington Patterson, described by Birmingham Live as a "reformed hooligan," called Alfie out, saying: "See you kid you are a disgrace say what you want about me I only ever fought people who wanted to fight me you are no blues fan scum spend more time working on that muggy face".

The ex-champion kickboxer later said he had spoken to Alfie Perkins and would be meeting him today. He said they would "do some homeless outreach graft".

Barrington then posted an appeal for anyone else who would like to volunteer with the homeless to contact Birmingham's Homeless Support Team, a charity which he has helped run since 2015.

#UPDATE | Following yesterdays Blues v Villa game, the force are also reviewing complaints around offensive social media posts. pic.twitter.com/or6a7dlsOv — West Midlands Police (@WMPolice) March 11, 2019

Birmingham City FC released a statement today saying: "The Club has also banned a supporter for life for a series of vile and malicious Tweets on social media, relating to Jack Grealish and his family.

"The individual in question remains the subject of an ongoing investigation by West Midlands Police.

"Birmingham City FC rejects all forms of anti-social behaviour. We will not tolerate the kind of incidents we have seen during and since Sunday’s derby fixture against Aston Villa Football Club."

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