Peter Copeland, 29, admits two offences after tweeting racist comments in a row with a Newcastle fan

A football fan who caused outrage on Twitter by sending racist tweets has admitted two offences.

Sunderland fan Peter Copeland, 29, was arguing with a Newcastle United fan on the site when he made the remarks.

Copeland tweeted one comment about the Newcastle star striker Demba Ba's lips exploding.

Sunderland magistrates court heard that he followed it up with another which said: "With the number of darkies in your fucking team, you should be called the Coon Army."

Peter Anderson, prosecuting, said this was in reference to Newcastle United's Toon Army nickname.

The comments were made on 17 January and followed Newcastle signing Ba's Senegal teammate Papiss Ciss?.

Unemployed Copeland, who lives with his parents in Benridge Bank, West Rainton, Durham, admitted two offences under the Malicious Communications Act and will be sentenced on 27 February.

Copeland said he was not racist and claimed a friendship with the black ex-Sunderland player Gary Bennett, the court heard.

He was arrested after the journalist Colin George, who works for the north-east-based Evening Chronicle and Journal titles, reported the tweets to Northumbria police, magistrates were told.

Anderson said: "His comment upon arrest was: 'All this because I called Demba Ba a black bastard?"'

Copeland told police there had been "banter" with a Newcastle supporter and his comments were an attempt to wind up the rival fan.

"He accepted he had gone way too far," Anderson said.

His tweets provoked 50 to 60 responses from other Twitter users unhappy with the remarks, the court heard.

"He decided thereafter to close down his Twitter account," Anderson said.

Copeland already had a conviction under the Malicious Communications Act, the court heard, but this concerned warning off an ex-partner's new boyfriend and was not of a similar nature to the racist tweeting.

Ruth Forster, defending, said: "From the outset Mr Copeland has been extremely remorseful.

"This case may act as a stark reminder that as soon as a comment is posted online it becomes available for the masses to see. He never intended his comments to reach a worldwide audience."

Forster said the Twitter row between Copeland and the Newcastle fan had started innocuously, but swiftly became nasty with the two trading insults before her client made his "stupid mistake".

After realising how widespread his remarks had become, he wrote a letter of apology to Newcastle United.

Forster urged magistrates not to link the case to football's other high-profile race issues.

She said: "I think you have to look at him as an individual who made the mistake of putting a tweet on a public site. These comments could have been made at any given stage when there was no media hype with high-profile players in high-profile cases."

She added: "Mr Copeland accepts these comments were outrageous and totally out of line."

The chairman of the bench, Thomas Eastick, adjourned the case for sentencing after indicating a "medium level community order" was being considered.