North worst spot for football violence

Aug 10 2008 by Robert Weatherall, Sunday Sun

THE North has topped a league of shame for having the most football violence in the country, we can reveal.

The unwanted title comes just days after four Middlesbrough fans were hauled before the courts for an unprovoked attack on Chelsea supporters on a train.

As the new season kicked off yesterday, new figures released by British Transport Police revealed they made 601 football related arrests on the railways last year.

And a shocking 118 of those — almost one in five — were made in the North East region, making it the worst area in the England.

The second worst area was the North West — which includes Cumbria — with 101 arrests. In the South, there were 51 and just 31 in Essex, East Anglia, Northern Home Counties and North London.

Incidents for the Midlands, South West and Wales together accounted for 171 arrests.

Chief Inspector Jane Townsley of the BTP’s North Eastern Area vowed to clamp down on the travelling hooligans.

She said: “We will use all the tools at our disposal to rid the railway system of football troublemakers. We know that these people are in the minority but we don’t want them spoiling things for the majority of law-abiding football fans.

“Our number one concern is ensuring that well-behaved football fans as well as other members of the public who are using the transport system on match days can travel in safety.”

Middlesbrough gave lifetime bans to thugs John James from Wakefield and Kevin Walker, Jamie Dea and Jamie Westwood all from Stockton, Teesside, for the attack on four Chelsea fans after Boro’s 2-0 home defeat last October.

The thugs struck on a train travelling between Middlesbrough and Thornaby and the attack was captured on CCTV.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the group attacked a woman and stamped on her glasses, battered a teenager, and targeted a fan who only had one eye.

It’s not just the big Premier League clubs where football thugs run riot. Police in Darlington are studying CCTV footage of a mass brawl in the town centre eight days ago following a pre-season friendly.

Police were called to the town’s Market Square after reports of 20 men brawling outside pubs. One man had a chair smashed across his head and six people were arrested.

Northumbria Police last week released pictures of suspected football hooligans — part of a 300-strong mob — who went on the rampage after the Tyne-Wear derby at St James’s Park last season.

It said they would pursue football banning orders against convicted thugs.

Superintendent Jo Farrell said: “Anyone using threatening or violent behaviour at football matches will be dealt with and banned from future games.

“Northumbria Police work closely with local clubs, British Transport Police and other partners to ensure a safe environment for the tens of thousands of members of the public who go to watch football, and this partnership is fundamental in taking the hooligan element out of football, and keeping it out.”