London, Europe Brief News – Man Utd star Cristiano Ronaldo was cautioned by police over smashing a child’s phone.
A video from a fan has been circulating on social media, showing Ronaldo appearing to smack the phone of another Everton fan’s phone out of his hand.
Police confirmed at the time that they were looking into the incident, which involved a 14-year-old boy, and the United forward has now been cautioned.
“We can confirm that a 37-year-old man voluntarily attended and was interviewed under caution in relation to an allegation of assault and criminal damage,” a police statement said, via the Mirror.
“The allegation relates to an incident following the Everton v Manchester United football match at Goodison Park on Saturday 9 April.
“The matter has been dealt with by way of conditional caution. The matter has now concluded.”
A caution is not a criminal conviction and acts as more of a formal warning, which can be used as evidence of bad character if the person goes to court for another crime in the future.
In order to receive a caution, a person must admit to an offence and agree to be cautioned.
Officers launched an investigation after a clip was circulated online of Ronaldo knocking the young boy’s phone out of his hand as he limped off towards the tunnel.
The fan’s mother previously claimed her 14-year-old son Jake Harding was left “bruised” and “in complete shock” by the incident.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo at the time, Sarah Kelly said the teenager is autistic and was “really upset” about what happened, adding it has “completely put him off” going to another game.
She also shared an image of her son’s hand, in which it appeared red and bruised.
