A teenage boy has been banned from attending any football matches and order to pay £1,500 in compensation after causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to the Peterborough United stadium.
The 17-year-old from South Cambridgeshire, who cannot be named for legal reasons, attended a football match between Peterborough United and Cambridge United on the afternoon of 29 October last year.
During the half-time break, the Cambridge United fan was caught on camera pulling a sink off the wall and stamping on the basin in a toilet block within the Weston Homes Stadium.
The damage caused water pipes to disconnect and water to leak through to the below floor, causing damage to electrical equipment.
He was identified from CCTV footage and arrested on 1 November at his home in South Cambridgeshire.
Despite answering “no comment” to all questions in interview, he appeared at Huntingdon Youth Court yesterday (Wednesday), where he admitted causing criminal damage worth less than £5,000.
He was sentenced to a six-month referral order – the first community sentence given to most first-time young offenders, requiring them to attend a youth offender panel made up of two members of the local community and an advisor from a youth offending team, where they will agree a contract of certain commitments.
He must also pay £1,500 in compensation and has been made subject of a three-year Football Banning Order (FBO).
The order specifies:
- In the United Kingdom, he is banned from entering any premises for the purpose of attending a football match
- Outside the United Kingdom, he must report to a police station according to instructions that will be notified to the defendant by the Football Banning Orders Authority
- The defendant must surrender any travel authorisation document (passport, identity card, or any other form of travel authorisation) in the defendant’s name according to instructions notified by the Football Banning Orders Authority
This result is the third conviction to come as part of a post-match investigation which was launched by Cambridgeshire Constabulary, with the support of both clubs, to take action against those identified as committing criminal offences.
PC Chris Winchester, who investigated, said: “This behaviour is completely unacceptable, a bad decision that day has now led to a young man having a criminal record, him and his family having to pay a hefty amount in compensation and him being banned from attending football matches for the next three years.
Clear message
“I hope this action sends a clear message that we will not tolerate this behaviour and will look to put in place banning orders against anyone causing issues at games which should be a family environment.
“The majority of supporters behaved responsibly at this particular game, however, there were a small number who chose to behave in a wholly unacceptable way, and this behaviour has been condemned by both clubs.
“An investigation is underway, and we will continue to take action against those identified as having committed offences.”
You can read about the investigation into disorder on the day here.
