Family furious with son over banner flown at Etihad

THE FAMILY of a convicted football hooligan involved in flying the ‘White Lives Matter Burnley’ banner were incensed with him last night, as the club vowed to make him a pariah.

The parents of Mark Hamer were left to answer for their 36-year-old son, who hired the plane to coincide with the Burnley and Manchester City players taking a knee before their Premier League game at the Etihad on Monday. Hamer’s father George, 66, told Sportsmail that his wife had borne the brunt of the backlash and was unable to leave the house to go to work.

Hamer Snr said: ‘It’s not good. It wasn’t great for her before this. I didn’t have anything to do with this.’ His son was jailed for three years and eight months in 2011 for an attack on rovers fans.

Club CEo Neil Hart said: ‘ We believe we know who is responsible for this. We will be issuing life bans to those individuals, 100 per cent.’

The company who carried out the flight from Blackpool Airport — Air Ads — did not respond to requests for comment. But Blackpool Airport has banned all aircraft from carrying messages and in a statement said: ‘We stand against racism of any kind and absolutely do not condone the activity, the message was offensive and the action reprehensible.’

Lancashire Police Ch Supt russ Procter said: ‘Today Lancashire Constabulary has been in liaison with Greater Manchester Police, the Aviation Authority and the Crown Prosecution Service regards the “White Lives Matter” banner that was flown over the Etihad Stadium last night.

‘After assessing all the information ... we have concluded that there are no criminal offences that have been disclosed at this time. We will continue to work with our partners at the football club and within the local authority.’