sam
TFF member
Posts: 341
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Post by sam on Dec 2, 2008 13:23:37 GMT
Gandalf, you are wrong. A football ground is a public place on match days. If a police officer saw the spitting, the offender should have been arrested - his feet should have literally not touched the ground. Besides, an assault, which spitting is, is arrestable anywhere, public or private. If no police officer witnessed in that split second it took the person to spit in the stewards face then the steward need only say to the officer what had happened and arrest should have followed. This is not new, this has been procedure since time immemorial, firstly under common law and then by statute. The first poster about this issue mentioned a fan screaming in a stewards face prior to the spit, surely this would have done enough to draw this confrontation to the officers. I dont know, I wasn't there. One would have thought that stewards would have been briefed to report such matters to the police in any event. At the Torquay v. Cardiff match at Plainmoor in August 1977 there was crowd trouble in the mini-stand. We arrested about 6 Cardiff yobs and they were taken to the station by van to be sorted out after the match (you cant leave them waiting now). We came out of the melee covered in spit, one of whom was a policeman called Chris Wilson. Within one week he was dead from meningococcal meningitis which was linked directly to the spitting. The two legged tie was drawn and a replay was played at Cardiff. Appeals were made over the p.a. systems for anyone at the Torquay match to be tested to see if they were carriers. I dont think anyone did because it was like admitting you spat at policemen. One day you are working alongside someone in tricky situations (no cs gas or tasers) and then that happens. Spitting is an assualt and if you need to get your clothes cleaned as a result of being spat at then it is also criminal damage. I hope my spelling etc meets with Merses approval and I can tell him that the yellow garb is a result of the nonsense of health and safety. OK for traffic cops but not the thing for regular officers, special constables, PCSO's, council civillian enforcement officers and all the others whom you cant tell apart.
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Jon
Admin
Posts: 6,912
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Post by Jon on Dec 2, 2008 17:46:08 GMT
At the Torquay v. Cardiff match at Plainmoor in August 1977 there was crowd trouble in the mini-stand. We arrested about 6 Cardiff yobs and they were taken to the station by van to be sorted out after the match (you cant leave them waiting now). We came out of the melee covered in spit, one of whom was a policeman called Chris Wilson. Within one week he was dead from meningococcal meningitis which was linked directly to the spitting. I remember that Sam. It must have been very traumatic for you and your colleagues. It's staggering to think that the common sense option of leaving the thugs in the van to calm down and sorting them out later is no longer available for fear of usetting the little darlings. The world's gone mad. |
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nigep
TFF member
Posts: 30
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Post by nigep on Dec 2, 2008 19:25:06 GMT
I realise this is a legitimate topic for discussion but,on the other hand, why bother to give the idiots the 'oxygen of publicity'
Off on an tangent rant. It bloody well annoys me that you can find books on/by hooligans in the sport/football section at Waterstones! What is that all about?
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Dave
TFF member
Posts: 13,081
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Post by Dave on Dec 2, 2008 19:33:28 GMT
I realise this is a legitimate topic for discussion but,on the other hand, why bother to give the idiots the 'oxygen of publicity'Off on an tangent rant. It bloody well annoys me that you can find books on/by hooligans in the sport/football section at Waterstones! What is that all about? I really don't think that this thread has done that, most of the posts have been about the way the stewards dealt with the problem and what we should expect the police in our ground to be doing. I would never encourage any thread that glorified violence, or just bragged about what our fans did to their etc, as I said maybe lessons can be learned and the club will change how things need to be done in future. |
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Post by stuartB on Dec 2, 2008 21:18:23 GMT
Gandalf, you are wrong. A football ground is a public place on match days. If a police officer saw the spitting, the offender should have been arrested - his feet should have literally not touched the ground. Besides, an assault, which spitting is, is arrestable anywhere, public or private. If no police officer witnessed in that split second it took the person to spit in the stewards face then the steward need only say to the officer what had happened and arrest should have followed. This is not new, this has been procedure since time immemorial, firstly under common law and then by statute. The first poster about this issue mentioned a fan screaming in a stewards face prior to the spit, surely this would have done enough to draw this confrontation to the officers. I dont know, I wasn't there. One would have thought that stewards would have been briefed to report such matters to the police in any event. At the Torquay v. Cardiff match at Plainmoor in August 1977 there was crowd trouble in the mini-stand. We arrested about 6 Cardiff yobs and they were taken to the station by van to be sorted out after the match (you cant leave them waiting now). We came out of the melee covered in spit, one of whom was a policeman called Chris Wilson. Within one week he was dead from meningococcal meningitis which was linked directly to the spitting. The two legged tie was drawn and a replay was played at Cardiff. Appeals were made over the p.a. systems for anyone at the Torquay match to be tested to see if they were carriers. I dont think anyone did because it was like admitting you spat at policemen. One day you are working alongside someone in tricky situations (no cs gas or tasers) and then that happens. Spitting is an assualt and if you need to get your clothes cleaned as a result of being spat at then it is also criminal damage. I hope my spelling etc meets with Merses approval and I can tell him that the yellow garb is a result of the nonsense of health and safety. OK for traffic cops but not the thing for regular officers, special constables, PCSO's, council civillian enforcement officers and all the others whom you cant tell apart. I remember that well Sam. As one of your colleagues, my Dad, was particularly upset by this. |
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