CITY FANS WOULD OF BE RICH IF............
Fri Oct 22, 2010 1:29 pm
Liberty became involved after the Football Supporters' Federation approached Chakrabarti in November 2008, on behalf of 78 Stoke City fans.
"We were going to watch Stoke play in Manchester," says Lyndon Edwards. "Last time we'd been there, we'd been herded about like cattle at Manchester Piccadilly station. So we decided to meet in a pub in Irlam [to the south-west of the city]."
There was no trouble. Nonetheless, police with dogs swooped on the pub and ordered the supporters on to a coach back to Stoke. Section 27 of the Violent Crime and Disorder Act 2006 allows police to move people out of an area. "They gave me a form to sign and they'd filled it in for me and it said I was involved in alcohol-related violent disorder. I wouldn't sign it because it wasn't true," says Edwards. "They said, 'Either sign it or you'll go in the cells.' So I signed it but I wrote on it that I didn't agree with it."
It took two hours to process everyone, and probably another hour to drive to Stoke. Edwards and the other supporters were not allowed to get off the coach, even after pleading to use a lavatory. By the time the coach got to Stoke, it was swimming in urine.
This summer, nearly two years later, Greater Manchester police paid out £184,000 in compensation – more than £2,000 each – to the 78 supporters. Its deputy director of legal services, Sian Williams, says: "At the time the use of the powers was new and we have since taken steps to improve our understanding of the legislation to try to prevent this from happening again."
Given the hassle city fans and valley rams have encounted over the years, we could all claim for a nice little pay out..........
"We were going to watch Stoke play in Manchester," says Lyndon Edwards. "Last time we'd been there, we'd been herded about like cattle at Manchester Piccadilly station. So we decided to meet in a pub in Irlam [to the south-west of the city]."
There was no trouble. Nonetheless, police with dogs swooped on the pub and ordered the supporters on to a coach back to Stoke. Section 27 of the Violent Crime and Disorder Act 2006 allows police to move people out of an area. "They gave me a form to sign and they'd filled it in for me and it said I was involved in alcohol-related violent disorder. I wouldn't sign it because it wasn't true," says Edwards. "They said, 'Either sign it or you'll go in the cells.' So I signed it but I wrote on it that I didn't agree with it."
It took two hours to process everyone, and probably another hour to drive to Stoke. Edwards and the other supporters were not allowed to get off the coach, even after pleading to use a lavatory. By the time the coach got to Stoke, it was swimming in urine.
This summer, nearly two years later, Greater Manchester police paid out £184,000 in compensation – more than £2,000 each – to the 78 supporters. Its deputy director of legal services, Sian Williams, says: "At the time the use of the powers was new and we have since taken steps to improve our understanding of the legislation to try to prevent this from happening again."
Given the hassle city fans and valley rams have encounted over the years, we could all claim for a nice little pay out..........