TWO CHELSEA FANS SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR POSSESSION OF SMOKE BOMBS SHOWS NOT JUST WHAT IS WRONG WITH MODERN FOOTBALL, BUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH MODERN SOCIETY.
In a staggering display of disproportionate, political and discriminatory sentences, two young Chelsea fans are as we speak settling down to their first night in prison after being handed a one month custodial sentence on top of a SIX year draconian banning order. Their "crime"? Possession of an undetonated smoke grenade at a cup semi-final.
Superintendent Steve Furnham of South Wales Police said upon their arrest that the use of smoke bombs is "very dangerous and can have disastrous consequences". Really? Let's look at what a smoke bomb is. It doesn't have a naked flame and releases a cloud of coloured smoke for 90 seconds. They are used perfectly safely in paintballing and are regularly let off (as well as distress flares) at music concerts/festivals where they are completely legal. Can someone please show me a single disastrous consequence of a smoke bomb being used? This is yet another example of the police using health and safety scare tactics to try and oppress and control football fans.
They were arrested under the 1985 laughably entitled "sporting events" act. It is laughably entitled because despite its name it ONLY relates to football fans. If these young fans were caught at the turnstile of a cricket match, rugby union match, rugby league match, tennis match or any other sport that you would name, they would have been perfectly legal and entitled to possess it. They have been imprisoned for their choice of sport. Paying the penalty for the excesses of a different generation in the 1980's which they weren't even alive for.
The sentence handed down by Judge Vivian Manning-Davies of one month, in addition to SIX years of Orwellian football banning orders is shameful - especially by comparison to other serious criminals who have avoided jail. I have highlighted a few cases of different offenders, usually with previous offences who have avoided custodial sentences and I ask you to compare them in severity to the Chelsea fans who were jailed today.
1) Schoolteacher sexually assualted two boys aged six and seven and was caught with 60 indecent images of children on his computer. He had previously been jailed for paedophilia. This happened just one week ago.
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2) Drug dealer who sold drugs to underage children in a skate park escapes jail.
3)
Violent mugger with previous convictions for theft avoids jail after
hauling down two boys and a girl and stealing mobile phones and a
handbag. The judge feared his life would "spiral out of control" if he
was sentenced to prison.
4) Convicted paedophile escapes jail after abducting 15 year old student.
5) House robber with previous for car robbery and burglary offences SPARED jail for house-breaking into the house of a woman whilst she slept.
These are just the tip of the iceberg. The fact is that two of our overcrowded prison cells are tonight being taken up by two young men whose only crime is being passionate football supporters, doing what is accepted as part of the game almost the world over. There has got to be something seriously wrong with a country where 80% of people convicted with carrying a knife on the streets are spared jail, whilst two football supporters get incarcerated for a smoke bomb. Which causes more danger to the British public?
I urge any Chelsea supporters going to Newcastle to bring banners showing solidarity with our two fellow fans, as well as doing anything possible to raise awareness of these disgraceful sentences. Please join the forum on the main page to share ideas and suggestions. Until football supporters in this country stick together and fight oppressive clubs, legislation and authorities this will continue to happen. It is our duty to do what we can for these two.
I would also strongly suggest that if you decide to take a smoke bomb into the ground, conceal it on entry, pop it, drop it and then kick it away. It is almost impossible to catch somebody doing it this way.
You'll never take the smoke bombs. The genie is out of the bottle now, it is happening more and more at grounds around the country and every single time one is let off it is two fingers up to health and safety, risk aversion, big brother stadia and oppressive authorities who have done their best to ruin the atmospheres at English grounds beyond recognition.
AGAINST MODERN FOOTBALL.
