CROSSED THE LINE
World champ quits social media after death threats to family and says: OK, me, but not my wife and kids
ROB CROSS has left social media after a keyboard crank sent his family death threats.
The reigning PDC world champion faces Cristo Reyes at Alexandra Palace tonight in the tournament’s last match before Christmas after suffering a year of patchy form.
But the former Hastings electrician’s celebrity came at a price – after one cyber-stalker trolled father-of-three Cross with sinister messages online.
“He said he wished all my kids dead,” revealed Cross. “He said I would live but my wife and kids would die.
“He said I should live unhappily alone for the rest of my days.
“I could probably accept that kind of stuff if it was aimed at me, but when it comes down to your own flesh and blood, like my kids, it’s not very nice.
“I’ve got to admit I don’t go on social media any more because of it – I just have it organised by other people for me now.
Family
“My family are everything to me – they make my life tick, and if I didn’t have them I wouldn’t be coming here as a defending world champion. I would probably be an alcoholic or a drop-out.
“They are a massive part of me, probably more than I’m worth, and for a loner to go out of his way to go after them is out of order.
“Like I said, it’s not a big deal if they come after me. I’m thick-skinned enough to cope with it.
“It was only one geezer, not long after I won the world championship, but it was enough for me to switch off social media and have nothing to do with it.
“If you want to be nasty to someone, you should be nasty to them directly to their face, rather than drag other people into it.
“For sure I know that if I had something to say to anyone, I would have the guts to say it to their face – I wouldn’t
target
go behind their back and scare their family.
“I didn’t report it to the police – I just came straight off social media.
Traced
“In fairness, the guy responsible was traced to Germany, and good luck to him. I hope he’s very happy with himself, but everyone else suffers now because I’m not posting any- thing on social media again again, and I’m not going back. When you become a world champion, it doesn’t even enter your brain that a crank will send your family death threats from Germany.”
He added: “I must admit, I thought my year was going to be a little bit easier than it’s worked out.
“But in a way I’m glad I’m away from all that stuff, be- cause I can only imagine the abuse I would have got for the way I was playing earlier!”
Suffer
Cross, 28, is by no means the first sporting celebrity to suffer at the hands of trolls. British speed skater Elise Christie was sent death threats before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where she crashed out of medal contention. And England footballer Karen Carney was sent abhorrent messages threatening rape.
Cross said: “I’ll just look after my own and get on with my career – because I’m only just getting started and I’m not finished.”
“I want to win a lot more major trophies and I’m not going to be distracted.”