Football thug James Young gets three-year ban

Aug 30 2009 by Adam Jupp, Sunday Sun

Disorder on the rise

FIGURES reveal there has been a rise in football- related disorder over the last year.

There were 79 arrests at Newcastle home games last season, compared with 38 the year before, with 78 away from home, which was up from 49 in 2007/08. In 2005/06, there were just 26 arrests at St James’s Park and 30 at away grounds.

Football banning orders can be slapped on supporters convicted of offences at matches or immediately before or after games, which can range from running on the pitch to throwing missiles at rival fans or police. Alternatively, officers can build stand-alone cases against "risk supporters" they believe are involved in organised disorder.

The stats reveal there are now 84 Newcastle followers with football banning orders, most of which ban them from the city centre for four hours before and after games, as well as stopping them following the Toon home or away.

That is up from 29 in 2007/08 and 16 five years ago. There were 121 people picked up at the Stadium of Light this season, compared with 58 the year before, with 45 arrested away, up from 43 in 2007/08. And there are now more than 70 Black Cats’ fans banned, up from around 20 in 2007/08.

Swoop on thugs

POLICE have staged a wave of raids on the homes of suspects linked to a planned dust-up between rival hooligan firms.

Trouble flared at Newcastle Central Station when a train-full of Sunderland fans arrived home from a pre-season friendly in Edinburgh.

Football intelligence officers had intelligence part of the group had arranged to do battle with a Magpies mob. That was later backed up by footage showing a gang of men waiting in a nearby subway.

The two gangs – thought to be the Seaburn Casuals and Newcastle Gremlins – never met, but that did not stop violence breaking out on the station platform.

Four police dogs were attacked and three men suffered head injuries that needed hospital treatment.

In the wake of the trouble, hours of CCTV footage was trawled through and detectives gathered intelligence on a number of targets. And this week, they swooped to arrest 15 people from both Tyneside and Wearside on suspicion of violent disorder.

That was followed by a 16th man being picked up in Nottingham and transported by to the Northumbria Police area for questioning. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Anastasi, leading the investigation, said: "We pledged we would track down all those involved in this disorder wherever they were. Further arrests are expected soon."