Falkirk fan ban for throwing smoke bomb at East End

A FALKIRK fan who threw a smoke bomb during a match at Dunfermline has been banned from all football grounds and ordered to do unpaid work.

Kieran Turner’s reckless antics after his side scored angered a sheriff, who said the throwing of smoke bombs was becoming a “plague” in Scottish football.

Turner, 18, of Lawers Place, Grangemouth, appeared for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

He admitted that on September 17, at East End Park, he recklessly threw a smoke bomb towards the field of play, causing danger.

Depute fiscal Lauren Pennycook said the incident took place at 3.30pm after Turner had gone to the match with friends.

“He lit a smoke bomb and threw it towards the field of play. The pyrotechnic had thick blue smoke coming from it,” she added.

Turner was arrested as he left the stadium at 4.40pm and denied initially that he was responsible.

However, the incident had been captured on CCTV and he later admitted his guilt.

Defence solicitor Simon Hutchison said: “He comes from an extremely law-abiding family who have never been involved in criminal matters before. He’s very, very sorry. This was an act of sheer stupidity fuelled by alcohol. He had just turned 18 and got carried away by the fact he could legally drink in a pub. As a result, he had a little too much alcohol.

“Falkirk had just scored when this happened.”

At a previous hearing, the solicitor said: “He had gone with friends to a public house before the match. Someone was selling flares and, stupidly, he bought one.”

Sheriff Wylie Robertson told Turner: “This was an extremely foolish thing to do.”

He imposed a community payback order with 120 hours of unpaid work. He also imposed a football banning order on Turner for 16 months, excluding him from all stadia in the UK.

At an earlier hearing, Sheriff Andrew Berry said: “The throwing of smoke bombs seems to be becoming something of a plague at football matches.

“This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing and the consequences could have been extremely serious. I believe a nine-year-old child was injured by a flare at another stadium recently.”

Before the September match there was violence between rival fans in the centre of Dunfermline.