Football Ns

[MSingh]

http://www.fsf.org.uk/news/Banned-Sunderla...tion-appeal.php

Petition above if anyone wishes, below is the story..

I must state, at this stage, that I was not there and appreciate that there are two sides to every story but this would appear to be what happened.

Before the season started there was trouble at the Central Station in Newcastle after a football special arrived.

This was a train that the announcer at Hearts had, repeatedly, urged Sunderland supporters to take, rather than use their tickets for their pre-booked trains,as it was "going direct to Sunderland".

Instead, it was sent to Newcastle and met my riot police with batons drawn and unmuzzled dogs.

The 40 (or so) fans who had taken up the suggestion were then kept on board the train for 20 minutes and then herded towards the Metro station where they were prevented from descending to it by a line of police with dogs.

However, they were being pushed and shoved by police at the back of the group and forced onto the dogs at the front who started to bite supporters and the police also were delivering head blows with their batons.

The outcome was that 4 supporters were hospitalised with one needing over 40 staples to a head wound and another requiring plastic surgery following teh bites received.

You can read the fans views on this link, although there have been various threads merged so it may seem "out of sync".

http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=433788" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This was Private Eye's article about what happened.

Flog On The Tyne

Last month Knacker of Northumbria put out a news release to touch the heart of every animal lover. It showed a forlorn-looking police dog, Cleo, claiming she was one of four dogs "kicked, punched to the ground and stamped on" by rampaging Sunderland football thugs.

According to the police statement, reported in the local press, fans on their way home from a pre-season friendly in Edinburgh against Hearts arrived at Newcastle station "intent on violence" and lashed out at both police and dogs. Although "shocked, battered and bruised," luckily none of the dogs was seriously injured, said the statement.

But is Northumbria presiding over its own G20-style policing disaster? For the same lack of serious injury cannot be said of at least four Sunderland fans who were hospitalised or needed emergency treatment, three with severe head wounds apparently caused by being beaten with batons, and a fourth with a dog bite wound to his stomach. One of those with a head wound was also bitten.

Accounts by fans contrast starkly to those of the police and suggest there were delays in getting medical treatment to those with head wounds. One supporter said that despite telling officers he had experience as a Territorial Army medic, he was prevented from giving assistance to one man. Phone video evidence shows the man lying in a pool of blood.

Last week, following freedom of information requests, Northumbria was forced to admit the extent of the injuries to police and dogs. Er, none... except for two dogs, with "tenderness on their bodies" which had not required a trip to the vet. And did the severe injuries to the fans trigger an investigation by the Independent Police Compliants Commission? It seems not. The police had told the IPCC that they had intelligence that a core of Sunderland soccer thugs on the train was behind a pre-arranged fight with Newcastle supporters, and that officers were there to escort the fans to the Metro and keep the factions apart. The police also published two clips of video evidence, one showing fans shouting and jeering at the cordon of police surrounding them; and a second showing some men entering a subway, one of whom appears to be carrying a stick.

But a week after the incident, commissioner for the North and East, Gary Garland, announced that after assessing video footage from CCTV at the station, the underground and from police hand-held cameras, it was "conclusive" that officers "were subjected to a high level of violence." Their use of force was "justifiable" and the IPCC did not need to play any role in investigating the affair, he said. But in reaching this decision, the Football Supporters Federation (no friend of thugs who use the sport as an excuse for violence), which has taken up the case, say that the IPCC had not considered any evidence from or interviewed any of the fans at the station.

Their evidence and clips of video footage are now being collated by the FSF, which has taken the unusual step of lodging formal complaints against the IPCC and calling on Mr Garland to resign for prejudging the case ahead of a proper investigation, which Northumbria police is now conducting into... itself. As the FSF points out, this doesn't inspire confidence.

Northumbria is also carrying out a criminal investigation into the trouble.

Statements from a number of fans suggest that, contrary to police assertions that they were heading to Newcastle bent on trougle, the fans had in fact waited an extra half-hour for a non-scheduled football special train that was supposed to take them directly to Sunderland. For some unknown reason, it terminated in Newcastle. They point out that any fans planning trouble would have caught an earlier train that was scheduled to stop in Newcastle.

They further claim that they were kept waiting for about 20 minutes and then corralled off the train, and that police were pushing fans forward on to police at the front who were blocking their exit. This caused a crush and some fans started to protest and swear at the police. One teacher described how a teenage Sunderland fan was pushed on to the police cordon and a dog git him on the stomach. He said chaos ensued as fans tried to grab the teenager back. It was suggested that if any of the dogs were hit or kicked, it was in an attempt to get them off supporters.

Dr Malcolm Clarke, chair of the FSF, said the case raised a number of issues that the IPCC or an independent force should investigate. The FSF has requested that all video footage be made available.

Knacker, meanwhile, has made 31 arrests on suspicion of causing violent disorder, with all fans bailed. Other than one man charged with being drunk and disorderly, no other chage has so far been brought. The IPCC told the Eye it was happy with its decision based on the evidence it had available to it at the time. Watch this space...

I would add that Amanda Jacks, who is a Hammers fan has been of immense help in her role within the F.S.F.and links to YouTube videos of the F.S.F. press conference can be found here:

http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?h ... BkQqwQwAw#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anyway, moving on, this week the club wrote to fans suspending the season cards of every fan arrested "until the matter is resolved".

And guess who sent the letters out?

A guy by the name of Paul Weir who is an ex employee of Northumbria Police!

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/safc/Club ... 5781591.jp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

With the reaction of the fans here:

http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=451176" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nobody (not one) person has been charged with - less so convicted, of ANY offence other than 1 D&D who was charged on the day and yet the club have stated that there will be no refunds if charges are not brought or not guilty verdicts are received.

This to my mind is nothing short of disgraceful!!

[Xangsamhua]

It seems bizarre. Doubtless we'll hear more. Thank for the posting. Can you keep us updated?