Defendants say they watched cl

TWO defendants in the trial of eight rival football fans have told a jury they watched a violent clash between the supporters out of "curiosity". At Derby Crown Court yesterday, Matthew Freeman, of The Pinfold, Belper, and Paul Nightingale, of Main Road, Whatstandwell, said they were not involved in the incident between Derby County and Nottingham Forest supporters at the Florence Nightingale pub on January 23 last year.

The two men, along with six other defendants, have pleaded not guilty to affray following the clash.

At the hearing, Freeman told the court he walked to the London Road pub with his friend, Alex Marshall, alongside another group of Derby fans. He said: "I was just talking to Alex Marshall. The rest were ahead of us and I heard a comment by one of the group ahead. The comment sounded like 'there are six of them in there'."

When asked by his defence barrister, James Horne, what he thought the comment meant, Freeman replied: "I assumed at the time it meant Nottingham Forest supporters, due to us playing them, but I did not think anything of it because I believed the Florence Nightingale pub was a home supporters' pub.

"I did not think there would be any away supporters in that public house."

The court heard that when the group arrived at the pub, Mr Marshall stayed outside while Freeman, 20, followed others inside.

CCTV footage showed Freeman, who works for Denbybased Deb Ltd, was inside the pub for 26 seconds. He said: "I could hear things banging and the smashing of glass. I peered in to see what was happening.

Bulova Watch "There were glasses and chairs being thrown. I was rather shocked by what was happening and I went to have a better look." When asked by Mr Horne why he did that, Freeman replied: "Curiosity". The court heard that Nightingale, 36, also entered the pub before the incident. He said he was also "curious" as to what was happening inside.

The trial continues.

10:07 - 2010-Mar-29 - comments {2} - post comment

Defendant denies being 'spotte

A DEFENDANT in the trial of eight rival football fans has told a jury he felt scared by a violent clash between two sets of supporters.

At Derby Crown Court yesterday, Daniel Slowinski said he was not involved in the incident between Derby County and Nottingham Forest supporters at the Florence Nightingale pub.

The 22-year-old Network Rail worker is one of eight men who have pleaded not guilty to affray following the clash on January 23 last year.

Slowinski's defence barrister, Alastair Munt, asked his client how he felt after the two sets of supporters had clashed. He replied: "Still scared. The worse of it had been and gone, in my opinion, so relieved it was over and done with."

The court heard that Slowinski had gone to Juicy Couture Fake Handbags the pub with a friend prior to Derby County's FA Cup clash with Nottingham Forest at Pride Park. The prosecution alleged that he was acting as a "spotter" and was there Replica Technomarine Watches to inform other Derby fans of any Forest supporters inside the pub. This was denied by the defendant.

CCTV footage showed Slowinski enter the pub, where Forest fans were drinking, at about 7pm. He told the court he felt "vulnerable" after he saw a Forest badge on the coat of one of the men. He said he felt the atmosphere inside was "very tense".

Minutes later, a group of other men, alleged to have been involved in the affray, walked into the pub.

Slowinski, a Derby County supporter, said he was in a lobby area of the pub when the incident took place.

The defendant told the court a bottle was "aggressively" taken from him by a member of the Derby County group as the incident was taking place.

When asked by Mr Munt what he did next, Slowinski said: "I moved towards the exit door. I had a look at what was happening and that was pretty much it."

Along with Slowinski, 22, of Rosemary Drive, Alvaston, seven other defendants have pleaded not guilty. They are Matthew Freeman, 20, of The Pinfold, Belper; Steven Bambrick, 36, of Main Street, Swadlincote; Roger Clarke, 48, of Holloway, Matlock; Paul Nightingale, 36, of Main Road, Whatstandwell; Craig Wheeldon, 29, of Cromford Road, Wirksworth; Paul Moss, 40, of Edgeway, Nottingham, and Aaron Wakefield, 30, of Eltham Drive, Nottingham.

The trial continues.

10:05 - 2010-Mar-29 - comments {0} - post comment

Defago's Delight

SWITZERLAND'S Didier Defago took gold in the men's downhill skiing on Whistler Mountain yesterday. Defago (left), 18th on the start list for the Games' blue riband event, clocked 1:54.31 to put down a strong marker on the Dave Murray downhill course.

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, last year's overall World Cup winner, took silver with a time of 1:54.38 and American extrovert Bode Miller claimed the bronze in 1:54.40. Defago, 32, said: 'I am very happy. It was a very crazy run, not easy and very different to training Prada Bags but I knew I could do something. I think my experience made a difference.'

10:03 - 2010-Mar-29 - comments {0} - post comment