A man was found dead in his North Wales home the day after he was caught on video allegedly making racist monkey gestures toward a Black soccer player during a derby match in late November, according to authorities.
Police said 52-year-old Andrew Paul Hewitt — a trucker, father, and avid supporter of Chester FC — was found hanged inside his home on Palace Street in Flint, North Wales on Dec. 1.
Just hours earlier, on Nov. 30, Hewitt was caught on camera taunting Warrington Town FC player Bohan Dixon with monkey gestures after his teammate scored on a penalty play. That’s when Dixon began celebrating in front of 900 Chester fans where Hewitt was apparently seated, reports said.
Objects were also thrown onto the field as chaos erupted several times during the match at Cal. Delivery Stadium, where the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
Soon, a video of Hewitt’s gestures went viral on social media, sparking outrage among fans who singled out Hewitt in the crowd of 2,296 spectators.
Chester FC immediately addressed the controversy in a statement, expressing anger and dismay over the alleged incident. The club also confirmed it would provide its video and photographic evidence to Cheshire Police.
The club added: “Racism has no place in sport or society, and anyone found to have displayed such behavior will receive an indefinite ban from attending matches.”
Chester also condemned “the actions of a minority who are unable to behave responsibly” and revealed that the team would now face an investigation by the Football Association.
It’s unclear whether these messages prompted Hewitt’s actions.
Police confirmed that Hewitt was scheduled to be questioned at a later time about the incident before he was found dead.
Later, the club issued another statement expressing sorrow, stating, “It is with sadness Chester FC has been made aware of the tragic death of the individual involved,” and added, “The immediate thoughts of everyone at the club are with his family and friends.”
County officials in Ruthin confirmed that emergency services were called to Hewitt’s home hours after the match when concerns were raised about his safety.
Hewitt was pronounced dead at 1:35 a.m., with assistant coroner Kate Robertson describing the circumstances as an “apparent act of self-harm.”
Following a postmortem examination, the pathologist’s initial findings indicated that hanging was the cause of death. A full inquest will be held at a later date, but officials said they did not suspect foul play.
Neighbors told the DailyMail that the bigoted episode involving Hewitt was out of character and not the man they knew.
“We all found out it was Andy who’d been accused of being racist. It doesn’t sound like him,” said one community member who suggested Hewitt took his own life due to the harsh backlash he faced over the incident. “He’s a lovely lad and they are a great family. We’re all stunned that he took his life over this. I feel so sorry for the family.”
Other people placed blame on the soccer team for creating publicity around the incident. It was the club that made it public. It is now pretending to be sad after the man hanged himself.
“It was the club that made it public. It is now pretending to be sad after the man hanged himself,” one person wrote.
“Whites get socially lynched every day in the West for heresy to antiwhiteism. It rarely gets talked about because the anti-white narrative is the only narrative in the media,” another person commented.
Hewitt’s sister-in-law, Mia Nicholson, took to Facebook to share that it was a deeply heartbreaking time for the family, also revealing that the funeral and burial would be held on Dec. 18.
