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Football Supporters

ITN Solicitors work closely with the Football Supporters Association, the largest membership based fan organisation in the country to assist fans who have been caught up in the criminal justice system. Together with the FSA we want to challenge the idea that supporters are a problem that need to be heavily policed.

The days of regular trouble at football are thankfully well in the past and millions of people go to watch games every weekend with their friends and families without any hint of trouble.  However, fans are still aggressively policed and are often subjected to excessive stop and search, or forcible escort to and from clubs. They can be also be subject to unwarranted attention from Football Intelligence Officers. 

In unison with the FSA’s ‘Watching Football is Not a Crime’ we want to challenge the heavy handed policing of fans.  ITN Solicitors help fans understand their rights, to make complaints or bring claims for compensation against police forces and clubs, and to challenge the data that is held on them.  We also work with supporters to challenge restrictions on attending matches.

Over the last few years Lochlinn Parker has successfully settled a number of cases, including, amongst many others:

  • Successfully challenged police dispersal powers (section 35) used against a coach load of away supporters;
  • Substantial compensation for a fan who was bitten by a police dog and unlawfully arrested;
  • Helping to overturn police imposed conditions on Hull fans attending a game at Huddersfield;
  • Substantial compensation for a fan who was violently assaulted in a holding cell beneath a stadium while handcuffed and lying on his front;
  • Compensation for a fan of a London club who was wrongly accused by the police of assaulting a steward.

Lochlinn also advised a group of Liverpool supporters on their involvement in the Hillsborough Inquests.

If you have been arrested or served with Football Banning Order proceedings then we and the FSA can help you fight your case.

If you need assistance please contact us and ask for Lochlinn Parker or contact Amanda Jacks of the FSA directly on amanda.jacks@thefsa.org.uk or 07703 519555. You can also contact @FSA_Faircop on Twitter.

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