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sky newsSentenced Over Brawl

Football Yobs Sentenced

 

 

4:37pm UK, Friday August 08, 2008

 

Sickening footage of football-related violence has been shown in court as four thugs admitted beating up terrified rival supporters on a train.

 

Middlesbrough fan Kevin walker, in the striped top, was sentenced for affray

 

 

The four "fans" were heading home after watching their team lose to Chelsea at the Riverside on October 20 last year when they picked on rival supporters wearing replica shirts.

 

Judge Peter Bowers gave the men suspended sentences at Teesside Crown Court after the group admitted affray at an earlier hearing.

 

The court heard the four picked on members of the York Chelsea Supporters Club – including a husband and wife, a middle-aged man with one eye and a teenager - after some light-hearted banter turned ugly.

 

A woman was hit in the face in the melee and watched as her husband was attacked.

 

Even after a train guard attempted to intervene, victim Nicola Welch had her glasses stamped on and thrown in the face of her husband Alan.

 

The trouble was started by John James, 29, from Tingley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, who snapped after one of the Chelsea fans pointed out Middlesbrough had recently been named as the worst place in the country to live on Channel 4.

 

James leapt on Derek Hagyard - an industrial worker who lost an eye in a workplace accident - as the 18.07 from Middlesbrough to York approached Thornaby, Teesside.

 

James' uncle, Kevin Walker, 47, seen on CCTV in a striped jumper, then waded in,throwing 24 punches at three different people directly in front of the camera.

 

The £40,000-a-year construction team leader, from Stockton, Teesside, appeared to play the largest role in the fighting, but was joined by Jamie Dea, 28, and Jamie Westwood, 31, both from Stockton.

 

Mr Hagyard had his jacket pulled over his head as blows continued to rain down on him, and he was seen on CCTV to be bleeding from the eye when the attack finally stopped.

 

The court heard as Mr Welch scrabbled on the floor to find his wife's glasses, they appeared in the middle of the Boro yobs' group and James stamped on them, before throwing them in his face.

 

The defendants admitted affray and James pleaded guilty to criminal damage.

 

Their victims were left with grazes and bruises but were not seriously hurt.

 

The defendants - all fathers with mortgages - expressed revulsion at what they had done.

 

Judge Bowers said the four came very close to being jailed and ordered them to pay compensation to their victims, to carry out community work and gave them curfews.

 

James was given a 15-month sentenced, suspended for two years.

 

Walker was handed a 12-month suspended sentence while Dea and Westwood were handed eight-month suspended sentences.

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sky newsSentenced Over Brawl

Football Yobs Sentenced

 

 

4:37pm UK, Friday August 08, 2008

 

Sickening footage of football-related violence has been shown in court as four thugs admitted beating up terrified rival supporters on a train.

 

Middlesbrough fan Kevin walker, in the striped top, was sentenced for affray

The four "fans" were heading home after watching their team lose to Chelsea at the Riverside on October 20 last year when they picked on rival supporters wearing replica shirts.

 

Judge Peter Bowers gave the men suspended sentences at Teesside Crown Court after the group admitted affray at an earlier hearing.

 

The court heard the four picked on members of the York Chelsea Supporters Club – including a husband and wife, a middle-aged man with one eye and a teenager - after some light-hearted banter turned ugly.

 

A woman was hit in the face in the melee and watched as her husband was attacked.

 

Even after a train guard attempted to intervene, victim Nicola Welch had her glasses stamped on and thrown in the face of her husband Alan.

 

The trouble was started by John James, 29, from Tingley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, who snapped after one of the Chelsea fans pointed out Middlesbrough had recently been named as the worst place in the country to live on Channel 4.

 

James leapt on Derek Hagyard - an industrial worker who lost an eye in a workplace accident - as the 18.07 from Middlesbrough to York approached Thornaby, Teesside.

 

James' uncle, Kevin Walker, 47, seen on CCTV in a striped jumper, then waded in,throwing 24 punches at three different people directly in front of the camera.

 

The £40,000-a-year construction team leader, from Stockton, Teesside, appeared to play the largest role in the fighting, but was joined by Jamie Dea, 28, and Jamie Westwood, 31, both from Stockton.

 

Mr Hagyard had his jacket pulled over his head as blows continued to rain down on him, and he was seen on CCTV to be bleeding from the eye when the attack finally stopped.

 

The court heard as Mr Welch scrabbled on the floor to find his wife's glasses, they appeared in the middle of the Boro yobs' group and James stamped on them, before throwing them in his face.

 

The defendants admitted affray and James pleaded guilty to criminal damage.

 

Their victims were left with grazes and bruises but were not seriously hurt.

 

The defendants - all fathers with mortgages - expressed revulsion at what they had done.

 

Judge Bowers said the four came very close to being jailed and ordered them to pay compensation to their victims, to carry out community work and gave them curfews.

 

James was given a 15-month sentenced, suspended for two years.

 

Walker was handed a 12-month suspended sentence while Dea and Westwood were handed eight-month suspended sentences.

 

This is not a pleasing read, however, the fact that someone makes £40k a year shouldn't matter here or there. They are obvioulsy able to afford to spend the money to watch Premier League football. As someone who has lived there I know how much of a dive Stockton is (and boro is worse) but very much like Rochdale, (a town similar in size) there are some areas which are quite nice (and it is getting nicer- construction is probably a good earner there as I can see there being plenty of work). I'm not a big fan when papers report just how much football 'yobs' make as not every yob is going to be poor and working class (I've seen and heard about some very yobbish behaviour from some very posh people in deed).

 

The person I feel most sorry for is the guard who's job it is to break up a fight, I'm not saying you need police on every football train but on trains where there are likely to be fans of different teams (a lot of the trains that help people back to London from 'Boro pass through Thornaby and all pass through York- not a lot of direct trains from Teesside to London) it might be a good idea. It doesn't sound like anyone was seriously hurt and 'banter' can get ugly very quickly and if people started taking the piss out of Oldham/Rochdale (especially those who support a football team miles away from where they live) I hope I wouldn't start a fight but with some beer in me I fear that is what would happen. It sounds like at least one thing to come out of this is those people might keep their mouths shut when winding up opposition fans.

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“The £40,000-a-year construction team leader”.

 

My brother works in the construction industry and he knows many people who earn similar if not larger amounts and spend it all on booze and sometimes drugs and quite often will get into fights (though to mention he is not one of them). I on the other hand know some of the best scientists in the country via my job and the younger ones earn a lot less than that figure.

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