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England fans involved in clashes in Marseille

Drink!Drink!

Well-Known Member
Oct 10, 2014
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Having now watched it with the sound up, any evidence of racist chanting? All I could hear was Ingerland etc.
Seriously? You don't think the morons who go out looking for fights aren't the same morons who do all the racist chanting as well
 

MattyP

Advises to have a beer & sleep with prostitutes
May 14, 2007
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Seriously? You don't think the morons who go out looking for fights aren't the same morons who do all the racist chanting as well

Having been out there, I personally didn't hear any racist chanting from anyone purporting to be an England fan. A few xenophobic chants, for sure, but racist, no.

I'm not saying there is no racist chants, I'm not saying there aren't racist England fans, likewise I've not said there aren't England fans who do go looking for fights. Just that I haven't witnessed it first hand.
 

NP4_Yid

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2008
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I had a lovely time in Bordeaux. Had a laugh with French, Slovaks, Hungarians, Austrians and Irish. Not even a hint of any bother.

But then as L'Equipe said about us Taffs - "they can obviously tolerate their beer far better" ;)
 

L-man

Misplaced pass from Dier
Dec 31, 2008
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See most of the trouble has gone away since Russia went home. Still England's fault though.
Don't be so sure, this sounds like provocation again. Unacceptable behaviour

Tom Victor‏@tomvictor 10h10 hours ago
England fans in Nice don't even seem angry. Accept they deserved to lose, roundly congratulating anyone in an Iceland shirt
 

LSUY

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Jul 12, 2005
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http://www.fsf.org.uk/blog/view/con...jailed-england-fan-marseille-france-euro-2016

An England fan arrested in Marseille has been given a custodial sentence by the French authorities despite the minor nature of his misdemeanour.

20-year-old Alex Booth from Huddersfield was arrested before the England vs Russia game on Saturday 11th June - for tossing a plastic beer glass up into the air. French police identified and arrested him before the match at Stade Velodrome. Ever since his arrest, he and his family have been repeatedly misled by French police and had no effective legal representation.

While in custody he's been denied visits from his family, who have tried in vain to get a clean change of clothes to him - he's still wearing the England shirt he was arrested in, nearly three weeks ago.

Following his arrest, French police misled his father and uncle, assuring them that Alex would be released imminently but this would always be pushed back with Alex receiving no useful legal advice and unaware of what he was being charged with.

Rachael Loftus from our Fans' Embassy team said: "His dad and uncle were told 'he'll be released soon', then 'he'll be released before midnight' which turned into 'he's being held overnight'. They weren't allowed to see him or even pass on a change of clothes."

French police convinced Alex to "confess" to his crime, despite having no sound legal advice or basic grasp of what he was "confessing" to, and he was hauled up before the courts where he was given a two-month prison sentence by the presiding judge - all the while still in his days-old England shirt.

"The custodial sentence came as a massive shock ," Rachael said. "He hasn't been involved in any violent behaviour or football-related violence before.

"If it wasn't for the fact that he's a football fan, he would not have been given a custodial sentence.

"The fact that he was in court in an England shirt was used against him. It was a deliberate strategy to paint him as a football hooligan. He was on holiday with his Dad and uncle, camping outside Marseille, he wasn't tooled up looking for trouble."

The British Embassy had not been able to get a clean set of clothes to Alex either despite having been given access to him. Alex now shares a cell with four other England fans. also caught up in the trouble in Marseille, and is allowed out for only 30 minutes a day.

An independent lawyer that our fans' embassy team spoke to told us that Alex could not have possibly offered an effective defence. He also advised the family that the appeal process could take more than three months, longer than the actual sentence - so the family decided to cut their losses and not appeal.

"The French police were caught off guard by the level of violence dealt out by the Russians and the trouble in Marseille," Rachael added. "They had to be seen to be acting and Alex was caught up in that."
 

widmerpool

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2012
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Not sure that the "tossing a plastic glass in the air" claim is entirely plausible. The original reports on Booth's arrest said that he threw a bottle at police. If that's what he admitted to, the sentence doesn't sound disproportionate. Certainly not enough to get all Palmerstonian post-Brexit and send in a gunboat for a blockade.
 

Ionman34

SC Supporter
Jun 1, 2011
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Not sure that the "tossing a plastic glass in the air" claim is entirely plausible. The original reports on Booth's arrest said that he threw a bottle at police. If that's what he admitted to, the sentence doesn't sound disproportionate. Certainly not enough to get all Palmerstonian post-Brexit and send in a gunboat for a blockade.

And the treatment?

Drug mules in Southeast Asia are allowed to change their clothes in custody.

France is meant to be a democracy, meaning that everyone is entitled to legal representation. Regardless of his "crime," he should still be entitled.

It's France not Guantanamo Bay
 

widmerpool

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2012
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And the treatment?

Drug mules in Southeast Asia are allowed to change their clothes in custody.

France is meant to be a democracy, meaning that everyone is entitled to legal representation. Regardless of his "crime," he should still be entitled.

It's France not Guantanamo Bay

Scare quotes for "crime"? There was clearly a public order offence of some kind, and the charge was presumably assault.

And the article keeps saying "effective" legal representation; sounds like he had access to some sort of advice and in retrospect he thinks that he could have had better. That's the case with legal aid anywhere, so the comparisons with Guantanamo are a bit far-fetched.
 
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