Licensee hailed for kicking out man wearing offensive Hillsborough top

A man was pictured in the garden of the Brewers Arms in St John's, in Worcester, wearing a top which likened the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans to pest control.

The T-shirt read: "Hillsborough. God's way of helping Rentokil."

Licensee Mark Daniels swiftly kicked the man out of the pub and barred him when disgusted customers told him of the shocking shirt, but it hasn't prevented Daniels receiving angry phone calls.

The pub has tweeted: "This has devastated me and my family. I didn't print or buy or wear that disgusting shirt. I removed him when alerted and couldn't do any more –gutted."

It followed the tweet up with: "Getting threatening calls and all sorts, all I done (sic) was the right thing?"

But police have praised his actions.

Superintendent Kevin Purcell said: "I understand the alarm and distress the offensive language shown on this T-shirt will have caused to both the people in and around the pub and further afield.

"I would like to thank the landlord of the pub for his support and all the members of the public who were in the pub at the time and came forward to report it."

A 50-year-old man has been arrested and charged with a public order offence of displaying abusive writing likely to cause distress.

The Mirror​ reported that, since the incident, the man wearing the offensive clothing has been plagued by strange gifts from pranksters, including a 70-strong crate of Lilt, a clown, 10 diggers, a giant crane, £2,000 worth of takeaway food, a 'mini horse', a pallet of Coca Cola and a parrot.

He has been bailed to appear at Worcester Magistrates' Court on a date in July.

The pub has since received "overwhelming support" for the way the situation was handled.