Man gets stadium ban for throwing flare on Hawthorns pitch amid fan trouble at Black Country derby
A fair-weather football fan who threw a flare on The Hawthorns pitch in the midst of chaos at a Black Country derby match has been prosecuted, fined and banned.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Conor McKearney, aged 26, did not regularly attend football matches but went to The Hawthorns on January 28 this year using a friend's "spare ticket", Dudley Magistrates Court heard this week.
Disorder broke out in the stands at the FA Cup fourth round match between West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the game was halted for more than half an hour after clashes between fans.
Violence flared in the stands and fans spilled on to the pitch.
After the trouble subsided, police scoured video from the match and identified a man throwing a flare onto the playing surface.
Prosecutor Megan Jewkes told the court on Tuesday that McKearney was picked up by a police officer's bodyworn camera.
"After the disorder died down, footage was reviewed and the defendant was seen holding a flare over his head, then proceeding to throw that flare onto the football pitch."
