City and Villa football fans to stand trial

MORE than a dozen football fans are due to stand trial accused of violent disorder on the day of a match between Cardiff City and Aston Villa.

Seven Cardiff City fans and nine Villa fans were charged with using or threatening unlawful violence in Cardiff on August 12 last year.

The case was listed for a plea hearing before Judge Neil Bidder QC at Cardiff Crown Court two weeks ago and was relisted yesterday for a further management hearing.

Nine Aston Villa fans face the charge – Hayden Perryman, Paul McMinn, Ryan White, Mark Baker, Steven Fowler, Darren Simms, Gary Tucker, Paul Sweeney and Richard Willmore.

Perryman, 24, from Turf Pits Lane in Sutton Coldfield, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at the last hearing.

On that occasion, 48-yearold McMinn, of Watchbury Close, Birmingham, was unrepresented and did not enter a plea but admitted the offence yesterday.

Last time White, 30, of Dudley, denied the charge, but he changed his plea. All three will be sentenced after the trials.

Baker, 47, of Ashburton Road, Birmingham; Fowler, 48, of Sutton Coldfield; and Simms, 24, of Sandwell, deny the offence. Also pleading not guilty are Tucker, 50, of Holly Lane, Birmingham; Sweeney, 32, of Knightcote Drive, Solihull; and Willmore, 26, of Aldershaw Road, Birmingham.

The Cardiff City fans – Vincent Richards, Christopher Griffin, Robert Moore, Nathan Pleace, David Cooper, Dominic Burgess and Rhodri Jones – all deny the charge.

They include Richards, 31, of Leckwith Road, Llandough; Griffin, 34, of Sevenoaks Road, Ely; Moore, 51, of Warwick Street, Cardiff; and Pleace, 30, of Andrew’s Road, Llandaff North. The others are Cooper, 28, of Mornington Meadows, Caerphilly; Burgess, 36, of Woodland Avenue, Porthcawl; and Jones, 27, of Radyr Court Close, Cardiff.

Each trial is expected to last for about two weeks with the first on September 24 and the second on October 29. THREE people are to stand trial after being accused of disrupting a defence industry event in Cardiff.

Kieran Denman, Catherine Lambert and Imam Sis appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court yesterday charged with aggravated trespassing. The charges relate to an incident during the Defence Procurement, Research, Technology and Exportability event held at the Motorpoint Arena on March 27.

Sis, 30, of Helford Square, Newport, spoke through a translator to confirm his name and address and to deny the charge. Lambert, 29, of Dean Lane, Bristol, and Denman, 32, of Merrett Court, Bristol, also denied trespassing. They were granted conditional bail and will stand trial on July 3.