Rangers violence: ââ?¬Ë?Celebration of football turned into city of mayhemââ?¬â?¢

[ian1964 10,409]

A court in Manchester has heard details of the violence which marred the Ibrox side�s Uefa Cup final in 2008.

 

A court has heard how a "celebration of football" ended in mayhem and violence as Rangers hooligans went on the rampage.

 

Manchester Crown Court heard how riot police fought hand-to-hand running battles with hundreds of drunken fans of the Glasgow club, who showered officers with bottles and other missiles. The violence was captured on CCTV footage and shown to the court on Thursday as 12 men sat in the dock awaiting sentence for their part in the trouble in the city as it hosted the Uefa Cup Final in May 2008.

 

A number of defendants had brought bags and suitcases, piled up at the back of the dock, expecting to be going to jail. All will now be sentenced tomorrow.

 

They were arrested after police publicised CCTV footage of the hours of violence during and after the Scottish club's 2-0 defeat to Zenit St Petersburg at the City of Manchester Stadium. An estimated 150,000 Rangers fans, most without tickets, descended on the city - drinking pubs and supermarkets dry.

 

The court heard that trouble erupted at a fan zone after a giant screen in Piccadilly Gardens in the city centre failed close to kick-off time. Ricky Holland, prosecuting, said the game was prestigious and intended to be a "celebration of football".

 

He said: "The vast majority were well behaved, there are numerous instances, discernable from the footage and statements from police officers of other Glasgow Rangers supporters trying to curb the disorderly behaviour of other people, caught up in this. So by no means was everyone who came to Manchester that day intent on committing mayhem, but that was ultimately what the city was subjected to."

 

Mr Holland said three fan zones with giant screens were set up by Manchester City Council to accommodate ticketless fans who swamped the city from early in the morning of the match. He added: "There was copious amounts of drink already taken, large amounts, a number of public houses simply ran out of alcohol, supermarkets and the like managed to sell all their wares."

 

But when the big screen in Piccadilly Gardens failed trouble erupted among the 8000 fans assembled there. Engineers attempting to fix the problem were pelted with bottles, causing �£300,000 damage to the screen. Mr Holland added: "Various disgruntled supporters began to vent their frustration on property and police."

 

He told the court riot police had never encountered scenes of such "ferocity and intensity", adding: "It is difficult to recall anything on the scale of what took place here." Police later trawled through hours of CCTV footage to identify the culprits, leading to the arrest of the 12 in the dock.

 

In the dock

 

The court then dealt with individual defendants, starting with Englishman Michael Hindle, showing film clips of each one's involvement in the trouble.

 

Hindle, 22, from Westmorland Close, Leyland, Lancashire, was seen throwing a bottle at police. A Blackburn Rovers fan, he was classed as a "risk supporter" by local police and has served a ban for shouting abuse at rival fans while following the Lancashire team.

 

Other fans in the dock included Gordon Forrest, 36, from Ledi Drive, Bearsden. He was seen taking part in running battles with police, kicking and pushing the riot shield of one officer and inciting others as hooligans swarmed around a police van to attack the vehicle.

 

Forrest already has a number of previous convictions including two assaults, one on a police officer and breach of the peace. He has pleaded guilty to violent disorder and told police after arrest he had "no recollection" of the entire day as he had drunk 24 bottles of lager at the time.

 

Thomas Murphy, 28, of Flatterton Road, Greenock, was seen on three separate occasions hurling bottles at police. Murphy, who admitted violent disorder, has a string of convictions including for assaulting police officers, assault, carrying an offensive weapon, breach of the peace and an unspecified football-related conviction.

 

Seven days after the trouble in Manchester he was sentenced in Scotland for breach of the peace and assault on an unrelated matter. John Saunders, 32, from Fullarton Road, Cumbernauld was seen draped in the Union flag attacking a police van and throwing a bottle at heavily outnumbered officers surrounded by hooligans. He has admitted violent disorder.

 

He has previous convictions for domestic abuse and is currently serving a five-month jail term for possession of an offensive weapon. All the other defendants face charges of either violent disorder or assaulting a police officer.

 

The other defendants also to be dealt with are: Mark Stoddart, 26, of Westmuir Street, Glasgow, who pleaded guilty to section 47 assault and two offences of violent disorder. The assault charge related to an assault on Pc Mick Regan.

 

David McCullough, 21, of Moorcroft Drive, Burnage, Manchester, has pleaded guilty to violent disorder. David Annette, 35, of Yarrow Road, Chorley, Lancashire, has pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

 

Scott McSeveney, 22, of Hunter Avenue, Shotts, Lanarkshire, was convicted after trial of a section 47 assault and violent disorder, the assault relates to an attack on Pc John Goodwin.

 

Brian McVicar, 23, of Falkland Drive, East Kilbride, and Greg McKenna, 23, of Falkland Drive, East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, are also both for sentence for violent disorder along with William McSporran, 18, of Craighouse Street, Glasgow and James Bell, 43, of Corrie View, Cumbernauld.

 

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-central/195389-rangers-violence-celebration-of-football-turned-into-city-of-mayhem/

[Zappa 0]

He told the court riot police had never encountered scenes of such "ferocity and intensity", adding: "It is difficult to recall anything on the scale of what took place here."

.

Total lies. In a place like Manchester where there's gang violence & drug wars involving serious weaponary? Seems like GMP are trying to shaft us on this. I take it they're forgetting all the other trouble in Manchester in recent decades? Some of us aren't too young to remember two whole days of race riots in Moss Side in the early 80's, but obviously Mr Holland forgot about that or thinks the incidents of 2008 are much worse.

[Stimpy 0]

Manchester Crown Court heard how riot police fought hand-to-hand running battles with hundreds of drunken fans of the Glasgow club, who showered officers with bottles and other missiles. The violence was captured on CCTV footage and shown to the court on Thursday as 12 men sat in the dock awaiting sentence for their part in the trouble in the city as it hosted the Uefa Cup Final in May 2008.

 

12 men out of over 150,000 people?

 

Manchester, like other large UK cities, experiences worse every weekend.

 

Happy to see the people who brought shame on our club dealt with but this has been made out to be the crime of the century and I for one am sick of it.

[maineflyer 0]

No mention of the overt police brutality many of us witnessed ... maybe that will be described later eh?

 

I don't expect their courts to be any more honest than their police force. If any of the GMP thugs got a kicking , they can rest assured their colleagues earned it for them. I wouldn't excuse the behaviour of some of the people I rubbed shoulders with that day but the picture being painted is complete bollocks and totally divorced from the reality of the entire Manchester organisation - which was steeped in failure from every angle you care to choose.

[rbr 1,247]

Funny how the head of greater manchester's police federation , wont be called to give evidence , whilst not condoning the actions of the idiots he blamed the GMC squarely for the root cause of all the problems , also it was given very little press inches up here , also the Glasgow council official who was sent down to liase with the GMC stated live on Radio Scotland that he had never seen such an ill prepared and totally inadequate plan for the numbers that he anticipated, and he even went on to warn them that disaster lay ahead , he stated on live radio he was told to mind his own business .

Edited September 3, 2010 by rbr

[CraigRFC 0]

I like how it has been changed to 11 Rangers supporters. Yesterday it was 12 until it came out one was a Blackburn supporter. I have absolutely nothing else to add other than I was there and was out until about 5 in the morning walking about and never seen one hint of trouble, suppose I must have been lucky since the WHOLE city was in turmoil. I did see the police hit people with batons for absolutely nothing. I've been to Spain with the Rangers and the GMP are up there with the brutality of the Spanish Guardia.

 

Even after I have said that I have nothing but hate towards some of the 'fans' that tarnished our club and hope that they get what they deserve in life i.e fuck all. Fair enough stand up to the police but don't trash peoples cars and the like on the way, absolutely out of order.

 

So aye fuck the GMP.

[andy steel 0]

Note how the highlighted langauge leans the readers against the fans:

 

A court in Manchester has heard details of the violence which marred the Ibrox side’s Uefa Cup final in 2008.

 

A court has heard how a "celebration of football" ended in mayhem and violence as Rangers hooligans went on the rampage.

Manchester Crown Court heard how riot police fought hand-to-hand running battles with hundreds of drunken fans of the Glasgow club, who showered officers with bottles and other missiles.[b/] The violences captured on CCTV footage and shown to the court on Thursday as 12 men sat in the dock awaiting sentence for their part in the trouble in the city as it hosted the Uefa Cup Final in May 2008.

 

A number of defendants had brought bags and suitcases, piled up at the back of the dockecting to be going to jail. All will now be sentenced tomorrow.

 

They were arrested after police publicised CCTV footage of the hours of violence during and after the Scottish club's 2-0 defeat to Zenit St Petersburg at the City of Manchester Stadium. An estimated 150,000 Rangers fans, most without tickets, descended on the city - drinking pubs and supermarkets dry.

 

The court heard that trouble erupted at a fan zone after a giant screen in Piccadilly Gardens in the city centre failed close to kick-off time. Ricky Holland, prosecuting, said the game was prestigious and intended to be a "celebration of football".

 

He said: "The vast majority were well behaved, there are numerous instances, discernable from the footage and statements from police officers of other Glasgow Rangers supporters trying to curb the disorderly behaviour of other people, caught up in this. So by no means was everyone who came to Manchester that day intent on committing mayhem, but that was ultimately what the city was subjected to."

 

Mr Holland said three fan zones with giant screens were set up by Manchester City Council to accommodate ticketless fans who swamped the city from early in the morning of the match. He added: "There was copious amounts of drink already taken, large amounts, a number of public houses simply ran out of alcohol, supermarkets and the like managed to sell all their wares."

 

Dickensian prose, ridiculously outdated, but an indication of the class of person attacking our support. Class is a pathetic indicator of opinion in this day and age, but these parasites, desperate to be accepted by the legal class they aspire to join, have no qualms about using the language of the C19th in a C21st courtroom.

 

But when the big screen in Piccadilly Gardens failed trouble erupted among the 8000 fans assembled there. Engineers attempting to fix the problem were pelted with bottles, causing �£300,000 damage to the screen. Mr Holland added: "Various disgruntled supporters began to vent their frustration on property and police."

 

He told the court riot police had never encountered scenes of such "ferocity and intensity", adding: "It is difficult to recall anything on the scale of what took place here." Police later trawled through hours of CCTV footage to identify the culprits, leading to the arrest of the 12 in the dock.

 

Only they didn't, as far as I know, as no-one arrested or charged was done so on the grounds of anything that happened in the Square. It was elsewhere, and on the grounds of dodgy videofilm. None of which, by an unbelievebale co-incidence, showed any Police officers doing anything remotely outwith the bounds of the law. What are the chances?

 

In the dock

 

The court then dealt with individual defendants, starting with Englishman Michael Hindle, showing film clips of each one's involvement in the trouble.

 

Hindle, 22, from Westmorland Close, Leyland, Lancashire, was seen throwing a bottle at police. A Blackburn Rovers fan, he was classed as a "risk supporter" by local police and has served a ban for shouting abuse at rival fans while following the Lancashire team.

 

Other fans in the dock included Gordon Forrest, 36, from Ledi Drive, Bearsden. He was seen taking part in running battles with police, kicking and pushing the riot shield of one officer and inciting others as hooligans swarmed around a police van to attack the vehicle.

 

Forrest already has a number of previous convictions including two assaults, one on a police officer and breach of the peace. He has pleaded guilty to violent disorder and told police after arrest he had "no recollection" of the entire day as he had drunk 24 bottles of lager at the time.

 

Thomas Murphy, 28, of Flatterton Road, Greenock, was seen on three separate occasions hurling bottles at police. Murphy, who admitted violent disorder, has a string of convictions including for assaulting police officers, assault, carrying an offensive weapon, breach of the peace and an unspecified football-related conviction.

 

Seven days after the trouble in Manchester he was sentenced in Scotland for breach of the peace and assault on an unrelated matter. John Saunders, 32, from Fullarton Road, Cumbernauld was seen draped in the Union flag attacking a police van and throwing a bottle at heavily outnumbered officers surrounded by hooligans. He has admitted violent disorder.

 

He has previous convictions for domestic abuse and is currently serving a five-month jail term for possession of an offensive weapon. All the other defendants face charges of either violent disorder or assaulting a police officer.

 

The other defendants also to be dealt with are: Mark Stoddart, 26, of Westmuir Street, Glasgow, who pleaded guilty to section 47 assault and two offences of violent disorder. The assault charge related to an assault on Pc Mick Regan.

 

David McCullough, 21, of Moorcroft Drive, Burnage, Manchester, has pleaded guilty to violent disorder. David Annette, 35, of Yarrow Road, Chorley, Lancashire, has pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

 

Scott McSeveney, 22, of Hunter Avenue, Shotts, Lanarkshire, was convicted after trial of a section 47 assault and violent disorder, the assault relates to an attack on Pc John Goodwin.

 

Brian McVicar, 23, of Falkland Drive, East Kilbride, and Greg McKenna, 23, of Falkland Drive, East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, are also both for sentence for violent disorder along with William McSporran, 18, of Craighouse Street, Glasgow and James Bell, 43, of Corrie View, Cumbernauld.

 

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-cen...ity-of-mayhem/

 

 

In th end, a load of what appear to be scummy wasters who disgrace the jersey will go to jail. While a load of scummy wasters who disgrace the uniform of the Police carry on, as you were. And then they wonder why they are disliked quite so heartily. Were it not for their lack of imagination, one would despair.