Police investigate online abuse aimed at man who raised £35,000 for 'crying German girl'

Police are investigating online abuse targeted at a Welshman who raised more than £35,000 for a young German fan who was seen crying on television.

The fan was mocked online after Germany were beaten by England at Wembley in the last-16 tie of the Euros.

Joel Hughes, 51, from Pontypridd decided to raise money for her to show that "not everyone from the UK is horrible."

He started with a target of £500 which snowballed to £36,000 in a matter of days with donations from as far as Japan.

But amid the fundraising, Mr Hughes was himself targeted by trolls.

According to reports, he described the abuse as "horrendous" and claimed people were posting his private details online and targeting his family.

One person who donated to the fundraising page said, "The irony is I've only decided to donate because of all the abuse I've seen this morning towards you for setting this up."

On Friday, South Wales Police said online abuse has been reported to the force and they are "providing support to the victim and his family".

"An investigation is now underway to identify those responsible", a statement read.

Mr Hughes did manage to track the young girl and her family down who requested that all the money be donated to charity UNICEF.

The full statement read, “In the interests of our daughter and our family we would like to remain private however we wish to thank everyone for your amazing support. Our daughter would like to request your generous donations go to Unicef, knowing that your kindness will do good.”

JustGiving said on its page that "none of this would have been possible without the actions of one man taking a stand against hate in football.

"Thanks to Joel, thousands of people from across the UK and Germany were able to show their support for the campaign and for fans from across the other side of the pitch."