Adam Johnson arrested: Men who share footballer's name hit with Twitter abuse

The footballer was arrested on Monday on suspicion of having sex with an underage girl

Adam Johnson at Sunderland in 2012 (GETTY IMAGES)

Twitter users who share their name with England footballer Adam Johnson are attempting to stop a wave of online abuse following his arrest last night.

The England and Sunderland player has been bailed until later this month, after police arrested him on suspicion of having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Due to the allegations, Sunderland has suspended the player pending the outcome of the investigation.

Last night, other men named Adam Johnson were attempting to direct waves of abuse away from their accounts, with a man from the US state of Tennessee tweeting that he is not associated with the player.

At around 5:30pm on Monday, another Adam Johnson from Liverpool also tweeted that he was being targeted by trolls, and was still receiving messages on Tuesday mornining.

Durham Police have reminded the public that identifying someone who may or may not be a victim of a sexual offence is against the law.

A spokesman said: “Victims of sexual assault are guaranteed the legal right to lifetime anonymity and publishing any details, including on social media, which may lead to their identification, is contrary to the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992.

”Durham Constabulary wishes to remind social media users, and anyone else, who breaks the law that they will be dealt with robustly.“

The tweets come after seven men and two women were fined after they named over Twitter in 2012 the woman footballer Ched Evans was convicted of raping.

All of those who pleaded guilty and were fined said that they did not realise they had broken the law by naming her, BBC News reported.