Interesting to read about the pyros and various opinions on it, however, and I don't want to ****on anyone's parade, they are
illegal.
As a member of the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF), membership is free to all by the way, I have copied this from a piece on the FSF website posted by Alison Gurden, a lawyer who works on behalf of fans and for the FSF in this arena.
Please, please, please, take note of the potential penalties involved in using or even possessing pyros in, or even on the way to a football match.
There is no doubt about it, the use of pyro to some fans is exciting. Photos of smoke bombs and flares being used at European matches give the impression of a colourful and high adrenaline crowd of fans.
Whether or not the use of smoke grenades (or plumber’s smoke tabs), flares and fireworks gives the game a better atmosphere, they are banned from English football, and without a doubt the courts do not see that same colourful, high adrenaline atmosphere.
The starting point for a court considering the sentence for someone who has attempted to enter a stadium with pyro is three months in prison. In many cases it is very difficult to persuade the courts to come down from this three month figure.
Add onto this the fact that it is highly likely that a court will impose a football banning order for at least three years (as this is the minimum that a court can impose) and may go as high as 10 years, and a fan’s days of watching football anywhere but in their living room for at least the next three years are over.
The prison record doesn’t look good to any employer, and any chance of coaching or refereeing even a local kids league is given the red card. The offence of possession of the smoke grenade and the prison sentence and the football banning order will all appear on a Criminal Records Bureau (now Banning and Disbarring Service) check.
Look again at the wording in italics above, a fan doesn’t have to let off a flare in the stadium to fall foul of the law, mere possession on entry is sufficient. The law doesn’t distinguish between smoke grenades, flares and fireworks, they are all treated with the same severity. Nor does it distinguish between possession and letting off the pyro.
The situation for under 18s is even worse. Possession of a smoke grenade or flare in any public place is a criminal offence. Hence a fan who is under the age of 18 and who has a smoke bomb in their pocket as they walk through town or on the train on the way to a match is committing an offence.
This places some youths in a very difficult position. Imagine the scenario, on the coach on the way to the match, the youth succumbs to peer pressure from a fellow fan to take a smoke grenade “come on, it will be fun, look you take the blue and I will take the red, it's only three quid”.
The youth then exits the coach and decides that the smoke grenade is not a good idea and approaches a steward or police officer to ask how to dispose of the smoke bomb. At that stage they are admitting to committing an offence, they are in a public place and have a smoke grenade in their possession!
A 15-year-old with no previous convictions, who has never been in trouble with the police before, suddenly finds themselves arrested, in a police cell and facing a criminal record. Even a fixed penalty notice or reprimand given in the police station will appear on their CRB check. With competition for university and jobs so competitive for youths, a CRB will probably means that this youth goes to the back of the queue.
Oh, and they will no doubt be banned from attending football matches, even if they do not end up with a football banning order issued by the courts as the matter was dealt with in the police station, the police share their arrest information with the football club so the club will issue their own ban.
As a lawyer representing football fans, I have concerns about all fans being arrested for pyro possession and use but in particular the criminalisation of youths. Whether or not I agree with the law as it stands, until Parliament changes it, possession of pyro remains an offence.
See more at:
http://www.fsf.org.uk/blog/view/no-p....gbi9mBDf.dpuf
As I have said, I have no wish to spoil anyone's fun but please be aware of the possible consequences, if any of you thought that any potential crowd crushing issues had been addressed, post-Hillsborough, simply by the Taylor Report then please read the report below of an incident at White Hart Lane just before Christmas. Ironically, caused by a pyro release.
Problems of crowd congestion which involved some fans being crushed and hundreds missing the start of the game arose outside the away end at White Hart Lane before the League Cup quarter-final between Spurs and Newcastle United on 17th December 2014.
Scores of fans subsequently wrote to both clubs, to supporters’ organisations, to members of parliament and of course to the FSF to voice their distress, concerns and dissatisfaction at how both stewards and the police had responded to the situation.
Problems initially arose after a Newcastle “fan” – who was subsequently arrested – let off a pyrotechnic device on the concourse of the upper tier of the South Stand, activating the smoke alarms and triggering the automatic locking of the away turnstiles at a crucial time as Newcastle fans arrived for the game.
The subsequent management of the queues outside led to fans being crushed against a stadium wall, with a number in distress and in fear of injury.
Fortunately, no serious injuries were reported, but the poor organisational response by stewards and the perceived indifference of the police prompted not only angry scenes on the night, but a flurry of written complaints lodged with Tottenham Hotspur FC, with Newcastle United FC, with Tyneside MPs (such as Gateshead MP Ian Mearns who witnessed events), and with the FSF.
- See more at:
http://www.fsf.org.uk/latest-news/vi....MJyz5lqX.dpuf
