Remember: Don’t throw chewing gum
PHOTO: Wales Online
Cardiff City football club fan David Roberts, of Pontypridd, South Wales, was the first to receive a lifetime ban for throwing “missiles” during matches.
Yesterday’s South Wales Echo reported on the judgment from the Cardiff Magistrates’ Court after the 24-year-old admitted throwing gum at the 5 April championship.
The newspaper reported that while Roberts felt regret for his actions, he says did not fling a coin, which drew blood when it hit referee Mike Dean:
“He accepts in interview that in flicking a piece of chewing gum towards the playing area he got swept up in the emotion of a local derby match between Swansea and Cardiff.
“He accepts he should not have done so and he accepts that the court has to deal with him.”
A spokesman for the football club felt, though, that the stiff fine was an appropriate deterrent to fans who go over the line in throwing things onto the field:
“He’s had the full sentence and I’ve glad they’ve done that and hopefully they can catch the other handful of people who threw objects and bring them to justice.
“I know these things take a while but hopefully in another couple of months we can have some more convictions.
“It’ll hopefully act as a deterrent for other fans. It’ll be stupid missing football because of a rush of blood.”