A senior police officer has blasted Scottish football fans who wear balaclavas or matching outfits in an attempt to avoid detection after engaging in hooliganism.
Jane Connors, deputy chief constable for local policing at Police Scotland, spoke out as an investigation continues into the thugs who rampaged through Glasgow city centre ahead of December’s League Cup final between Celtic and Rangers.
Five people have been arrested so far in connection with the incident outside Glasgow Central Station which saw terrified Christmas shoppers take refuge in shop doorways.
Connors said this behaviour was “completely unacceptable” and involved fans who “have no regard for the reputation of football”.
“The people involved were wearing balaclavas to hide their identity and they also wore similar clothing to try to frustrate the match investigation,” the top cop told the Scottish Police Authority in comments first reported in the Times.
She called for “deterrents and internal sanctions for groups who get involved in this type of disorder” from football clubs and partners. Police are also reviewing football banning orders to see if “the current legislation is fit for purpose and if changes are needed”.
Connors added: “We are particularly grateful with the number of sheriffs who have come out to football matches to actually see, feel and hear the disorder and just how the fans react to different situations. That immersive understanding when things come to court, that we are asking the judiciary to help with, means they are really able to bring their experience to bear.”
She said it was becoming “increasingly challenging” to police foot ball matches with “risk groups who are prevalent in a lot of clubs, particularly across Scotland”. She said: “The fans do put on highly organised pyrotechnic displays and also [participate in] prearranged violence.”
Tom Halpin, the former deputy chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police, questioned whether Police Scotland was “doing enough around pyrotechnics in the stadiums.
The authority is a public body independent of the Scottish government that holds Police Scotland to account.
Halpin said: “Scotland saw the running mobs in the city of Glasgow on the most important day of the year for Christmas shopping and that caused a lot of alarm … we also see the continuing issue of pyrotechnics in stadiums.”
The Scottish Football Association said football authorities “are actively engaged in a multi-agency round table to tackle the issue of pyrotechnic use inside football grounds”.
John Swinney previously described the disorder before the Old Firm match in December as “completely and utterly unacceptable”.
The First Minister said at the time: “There was a completely and utterly unacceptable level of violence from a small minority of football fans involved in the game. It caused fear and alarm for people who were quite happily going about their Christmas shopping in the centre of Glasgow and it should not, in any circumstances, have taken place.”
He said the two clubs have the responsibility to “take account of the behaviour of their fans”. Police were forced to invoke special powers which lowers the bar for members of the public to be stopped and searched within the city’s east end, south side and into parts of South Lanarkshire on Sunday.
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