If any of you guys are on the Heroes and Villans Fanzine forums you may well know this story.
So my story starts on Sunday August 17th. The first match of the new season and a home game against Manchester City. That day i drove to Villa Park with my cousin Jack and my mate Farley. We arrived at the ground at 12:30 and went into the Aston Hotel for an hour before we hit Villa Village for a looksy. Farley had a ticket for the Upper Holte and myself and Jack had new seats in the North Stand Upper. We managed to swap from Row B to Row A for extra legroom.
We split with Farley who was in the Holte End and arranged to meet him after the match outside the gates on Witton Lane. Everything was going well up until about the 60th ninute of the match when i was approached by a Lady Steward who askedme to go into the concourse area because she needed a word with me. After asking her a few times if she had the right person i got up to follow her. She said Jack could stay in his seat as i would only be a couple of minutes. I left my phone and jacket with Jack.
As i was walking up the steps i could see a few Police Officers waiting at the top of the steps. My initial thoughts were something had happened back home (not a nice feeling). As i walked into the Concourse area there was around 15 Police Officers surrounding me. At this point i started to panic. A PC Smith then informed me that a bottle had been thrown into the Away fans and when she looked up she had seen me with my arms in the air. I explained that i hadn't bought any drinks into or at the ground and i hadn't seen any bottles being thrown. She then explained that there would be an investigation and that i was being arrested on suspicion of throwing the bottle! I protested my innocence and pleaded with them to go and speak to the people sat around me and they would tell them that i had done nothing wrong. I explained that my hands were on my head as Villa had just got a corner (this resulted in Villas second goal.....Yes i missed it!) and that i was reacting to the play on the pitch.
Luckily Jack had followed me because if he hadn't i would of dissapeared and he wouldn't of had a clue where i had gone. They arrested me, handcuffed me and took me down to the holding cell at Villa Park. They then took all my possesions off me, took my details and put me into the cell where i stayed until after the match and the away fans had left. I missed 4 goals in all during this time and was now being given the story that in fact a bottle wasn't thrown onto the away fans but someone below had felt liquid on them! That story was then changed to a bottle was thrown onto the pitch!!
I was taken to Queens Road Station where i was again read my rights and put into a cell where i waited for a solicitor. Thankfully the solicitor arrived within the hour. I had my DNA, finger prints and photo taken. I was then told that Jack and Farley had arrived at the station and were waiting out front for me. Since neither of them drive my wife was being driven upto the station as i had no idea how long i was going to be held for. After a brief meeting with the solicitor i was taken in for an Interview. I was asked 3 questions in that interview. Did i throw a bottle? No. Did i see a bottle being thrown? No. Did i see or hear anything around where i was sat? Apart from a few thousand people enjoying the match no i didn't see or hear anything.
I was then released without charge. I then found out that there had been no investigation after my arrest and there was no CCTV footage. All in all i had been held for 3 hours. Not a very nice experience and to say i was a tad angry is an understatement.
I got home around 10ish that night and immediately wrote a letter of complaint to Chief Constable of West Midlands Police Force. I demanded an apology and explained i would be seeking compensation for what had happened. I had a meeting with a Sgt and D.I from West Midlands Police where i was given a few options of what i could do. The meeting went very well. They were basically trying to blame the steward for pointing me out to the Officers and thats why i was arrested. I told them that i thought that was rubbish and asked them to check the file. They checked the file and there was no mention of any steward in it!! At this point i started to rub my hands as i knew they were trying to cover things up. It is now under full investigation. I managed to get witnesses for myself and gave there details to the police. I spoke to one of the witnesses a week or so later and he told me that he had spoken to the police and that the police had told him they arrested the wrong person and more should of been done to find out what happened. The pound signs started to flash in my mind.
Anyways thats where i'm upto now and i'm hoping to hear some results from the investigation this week. God knows its gone on long enough!!!!
Tue Nov 25, 2008 4:13 pm
