FOOTBALL FAN MADE OBSCENE GESTURE AS MOB TURNED VIOLENT
23-year-old banned from games for three years
A Stoke-on-trent football fan became embroiled in ugly scenes outside Old Trafford as protesters charged onto a busy main road and hounded drivers.
Brandon Cowlishaw, of East Street, Weston Coyney, was among around 2,000 fans at the stadium ahead of Manchester United’s match against Liverpool in May last year in a demonstration against the club’s owners the Glazer family and the proposed European Super League.
The fixture was abandoned on safety grounds after the peaceful protest turned ugly, with some fans breaking into the stadium, throwing bottles and violently confronting police.
During the melee, one police officer suffered a serious injury to his face after being hit by a bottle.
Cowlishaw, 23, was one of five people who appeared at Manchester Crown Court to be sentenced after pleading guilty to violent disorder.
A total of 40 fans have admitted to the charge for their part in the largescale disturbance.
In footage played in court, each of the defendants were shown joining in with the crowds on May 2 last year at Old Trafford.
Flares were let off and flags displayed as the rally started peacefully, prosecutor David Lees said. But at about 2pm some protesters breached security barriers and tried to force open the gates to the Munich tunnel.
“Cowlishaw was seen throwing a bottle, making masturbation gestures towards the police, and moving to the front of the crowd,” he said.
Some of the crowd then moved onto Chester Road where they stopped traffic by banging on passing car windows and shaking them. Cowlishaw was seen crowding around a Mini, along with a few dozen others, before banging on it.
The group then moved on to Lidl, where he was one of a group who removed a line of shopping trolleys and swung them towards the main road.
Defending Cowlishaw, Edward Steele said his client was ‘very sorry’ and regretted his involvement.
Sentencing, the Recorder of Manchester, Judge Nicholas Dean KC said: “It’s been said that one of you felt shame and disgust – all of you should feel shame and disgust.
“Maybe your relatives or friends are seeing these images for the first time, seeing that the mob behaved in such a manner that was disgraceful and each of you contributed to that in varying ways. All of you are, in effect, of good character.
“All of you, in normal context, are perfectly decent young men.
“I have no doubt, on this occasion, that you got carried away with the behaviour of others that were involved and you contributed to that behaviour.”
Cowlishaw was handed a two-year community order, 220 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £500 costs. Each man was also handed a three-year football banning order, meaning they are prohibited from attending matches until 2025.