Welsh rugby fan Edryd James faces a police investigation after homophobic abuse against referee Nigel Owens was posted from his Twitter account . A young Welsh rugby fan faces a police investigation after homophobic abuse against referee Nigel Owens was posted from his Twitter account . Edryd James , 18 , was in the eye of a storm of controversy after the short message appeared on his account on Saturday evening . The Swansea University student is suspected of posting : ‘ Your a gay c*** awful performance against france tonight , how did england top Wales ? ’ The comment sparked hundreds of replies in which rugby fans of all colours said it was disgraceful and voiced their support for Owens . But James , who lives with his family in Cynwyl Elfed , near Carmarthen , West Wales , claimed his phone had been stolen and he was not responsible . The teenager , who describes himself online in Welsh as a ‘ Welshman who enjoys life ’ , has posted many other comments about his love of rugby and heavy drinking sessions . His mother Meiner James , 58 , told the Daily Mail she was ‘ aware something has happened ’ and said she was ‘ trying to get to the bottom of it ’ . Owens , once named as gay sports personality of the year , was encouraged by many other internet users to report the abuse while others said he should ignore it . The veteran referee – who came out seven years ago – was generally praised for his control of England ’ s 55-35 victory over France . Among those who spoke out for him were former Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies , Will Carling and Wasps fly-half Andy Goode . Owens later tweeted : ‘ An absolute pleasure & privilege to ref one of the best games of rugby ever . Huge credit to England & France for making it a great game. ’ Dyfed Powys Police said it has launched an inquiry into ‘ alleged homophobic remarks ’ . A spokesman said : ‘ This follows a number of complaints made by members of the public . The Tweet concerned has now been removed from the page . The investigation is at an early stage. ’ Edryd James , 18 , was in the eye of a storm of controversy after the short message appeared on his account on Saturday evening . Owens , who came out as gay seven years ago , replied to the tweet and it was later reported to the police . The referee ( pictured speaking to England 's fly-half George Ford ) took charge of yesterday 's Six Nations match between England and France . It was the first time Owens had taken charge at Twickenham since he received homophobic abuse from the stands during England ’ s 24-21 defeat to New Zealand in the autumn . On that occasion two people were banned from Rugby HQ for two years and ordered to pay £1,000 to a charity of Owens ’ choice . Trolls who post racist , homophobic and threatening abuse have been dealt with extremely harshly in other high profile cases . Police forces are keen to show that comments made online are as damaging as those made to someone ’ s face in the street . Last year a Twitter troll was jailed for 18 weeks for bombarding a Labour MP with abusive messages after she supported a successful campaign to put Jane Austen on the £10 note . Peter Nunn , 33 , from Bristol , retweeted ‘ menacing ' posts threatening to rape Stella Creasy , MP for Walthamstow , and branded her a 'witch ' . Last month Twitter ’ s chief executive admitted that the company ‘ sucks at dealing with abuse and trolls ’ in a leaked memo .
Welsh rugby fan faces police investigation after rugby referee was abused . A man who has been a supporter of the Wales national team for more than 30 years is facing an official complaint over his treatment by a match official.