City hooligans with respectable jobs spared jail
JUDGE GIVES PAIR A SECOND CHANCE BUT HANDS THEM THREE-YEAR BAN FOR ATTACK ON FRENCH FANS AT SHOP
TWO young Manchester City hooligans with respectable jobs have avoided jail for taking part in a brawl with French rivals before a Champions League fixture.
George Sykes, 21, from Bury, who serves in the Royal Navy, and swimming pool engineer Adam Needham, 22, from Stockport, joined a group of City thugs who attacked supporters of the French club Lyon before the match at the Etihad stadium on September 19, 2018.
The pair were part of a group who threw shopping baskets and soft-drinks cans at rival fans who they cornered inside a convenience store close to the ground.
About 1,700 Olympique Lyonnais supporters had travelled to Manchester for the evening match, Simon Blakebrough, prosecuting, told the court. Supporters of the French club gathered in the Northern Quarter and Shambles Square in Manchester city centre to drink ahead of the 8pm kick-off, the court heard. A group of about 400 French supporters were escorted to the ground by police at around 6pm and there was a clash between rival fans.
But at 7.30pm, Lyon and City supporters were involved in a running battles involving 20 to 30 men on Grey Mare Lane where some supporters of the French team were cornered inside One Stop, a convenience store, the court heard. Some innocent members of the public were seen by the officer hiding behind shelving inside the store. Police seized CCTV from the shop and identified the two defendants, who had fled the scene. Needham was seen at the rear of a group of City supporters who ‘surged’ towards the shop.
His co-defendant Sykes was seen running down Grey Mare Lane wearing a ‘skeleton bandana’ over his face.
As a nearby innocent child watched, the footage showed Sykes raising both fists before adopting a ‘boxing stance’ towards the French supporters, said Mr Blakebrough. Sykes led a ‘second charge’ of City fans which forced the Lyon fans inside the convenience store and more baskets were thrown into the shop.
The footage captured him throwing a shopping basket at the shop but it bounced off the window and hit him before another City fan pushed him in the back, sending him to the ground where he was seen to be kicked by rival Lyon supporters while on the floor.
Sykes appeared to be ‘knocked out’ for a short period of time and other City fans helped him get away.
The two men were arrested later.
The court heard that while Needham had no previous convictions, Sykes had been convicted of failing to abide by a dispersal order prior to a City match at Huddersfield where he was seen to jump over a turnstile.
Joseph Hudson, defending both, said his clients had pleaded guilty ‘at an early stage’ and were both in employment.
Judge Anthony Cross QC told them: “It’s a real tragedy to see young men from good homes in this situation. Both of you let down your families and both of you are risking a custodial sentence. For what?”
The judge told the defendants they ‘deserve a chance’ and said he could step back from imposing prison sentences.
Sykes, of Hillside Crescent in Bury, and Needham, of Eldon Road in Stockport, were each handed two-year community orders and told to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £750 each towards prosecution costs. Both were handed threeyear football banning orders, which prohibits them from attending matches. They had both pleaded guilty to affray.
It’s a real tragedy to see young men from good homes in this situation
Judge Anthony Cross QC