From June 30th 2011
Five football thugs have been warned to expect jail for brawling in front of terrified passengers on a tube train in central London.
The fight between Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur fans was so explosive that their carriage shook and the train driver pressed a panic alarm.
The supporters clashed in the aftermath of Pompey’s 2-0 win in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on April 11 last year.
When Pompey fan Marc Underwood, 31, was arrested he protested that his only crime was to be ‘harder’ than his Spurs rivals.
Underwood was convicted of affray after a trial at Blackfriars Crown Court along with Spurs fans Colin and Danny McAteer, father and son aged 58 and 29, Stephen Byford, 38, and Howard King, 50.
All five will be sentenced on July 29 and face up to three years behind bars.
Judge Ian Karsten QC told them to prepare for an ‘immediate’ jail sentence upon their return to court next month.
He said: ‘These experiences are, for the passengers, very frightening – especially if it is football related.
‘Each defendant may have to prepare themselves for a custodial sentence.’
The men could also be made subject to football banning orders, preventing them from attending matches.
Spurs fans Aaron Taylor, 33, Timothy Payze, 57, and Adrian Pearson, 36, and Portsmouth supporter Bradley Palmer, 23, were cleared of the charge.
The court heard the two sets of rival fans met on a Hammersmith and City Line train travelling from Baker Street to King’s Cross after the match.
Trouble flared after Underwood taunted the rival supporters in his carriage, asking: ‘Wouldn’t you be gutted if you were a Spurs fan then?’
A violent scuffle broke out, with Underwood, who has previous convictions for assault, disorderly conduct and criminal damage, later arrested with a torn T-shirt and cuts on his wrists.
He told officers: ‘They lost it, I defended myself – my only crime here is being harder than they were.’
Roger Smart, prosecuting, said: ‘Punches were swung and individuals were hit and with those involved physically grappling each other the train began to shake.
‘As a result of the fight the defendant Danny McAteer was particularly badly injured and bleeding as a result of sustaining significant facial injuries.’
Danny McAteer also suffered a dislocated shoulder in the fracas.
The fight continued when the train pulled into King’s Cross, with cowering passengers running for the doors as the hooligans continued to brawl on the train.
Police found the defendants in blood-soaked clothing, with King sporting a black eye and Danny McAteer suffering from cuts around his eyes and a dislocated shoulder.
Danny and Colin McAteer, both of Woodcroft, Harlow, Essex; Byford, of Hullgrove, Harlow; King, of Great Plumtree, Harlow; and Underwood, of Queens Road, Copnor, Portsmouth; were found guilty of affray.
Taylor, of The Peacocks, Harlow; Payze, of Waytermore Road, Bishops Stortford, Herts; Pearson, of The Futures, Harlow; and Palmer, of Donaldson Road, Portsmouth, were acquitted.
