Three Celtic fans accused of disorder on way to Aberdeen match

http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/local/three-men-accused-of-disorder-on-way-to-aberdeen-fc-v-celtic-match-1.177972

THREE men are to go on trial accused of attempting to fight with Dons fans on the way to a football match in Aberdeen.

Kieran Ewing,23, Douglas Main, 21, and Lee McGarry, 20, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

The men are accused of behaving in a way “likely to incite public disorder” while on their way to an Aberdeen and Celtic match in the city.

The alleged offence is said to have taken place at King Street at its junction with West North Street on August 17 last year.

Main is also accused of being in possession of cocaine.

Ewing’s address was given as 42 Woodside Road, Stirling; Main’s was given as 8 Hardhill Road, Bathgate; and McGarry’s address was given as 6 Bedale Road, Garrowhill. They are due to go on trial in Aberdeen next month.

Police investigating Celtic fan over vile hate massages

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/police-probe-twitter-troll-allegations-3016365

POLICE were last night investigating vile Twitter messages aimed at terminally ill former Rangers legend Fernando Ricksen.

The Dutch star touched the hearts of more than 42,000 fans as he was welcomed on to the Ibrox pitch at half-time in Saturday’s League One clash with East Fife.

Ricksen, 37, recently revealed he has incurable motor neurone disease and he was visibly moved as he took the fans’ applause.

But later a sick message was posted on the Twitter account of 21-year-old Ciaran Wallace, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire.

It read: “Frenando (sic) ricksen you won’t see ten in a row!!! #celtic#rangers#deed#haha.”

Other disgusting messages were also posted on McDonald’s worker Wallace’s Facebook account, including one mocking the death of soldier Lee Rigby, murdered by Islamist extremists in Woolwich last May.

The Facebook entry reads: “Free the woolwich two!!! Where’s your head at!!!!!??”

Wallace, a member of a Republican flute band, last night deleted his social media accounts, which were riddled with similar smears and insults.

But when confronted by the Record over his behaviour, he hid behind his mum and whimpered for her to shut the door.

Cowering Wallace also claimed that both his Facebook and Twitter accounts had been simultaneously hacked and that he hadn’t made the sickening posts.

The Record received a barrage of calls and emails from angry readers who saw his Ricksen rant.

One caller said: “I was checking out Fernando Ricksen’s reception at Ibrox by doing a Twitter search for his name and this entry was the first thing I saw.

“I was staggered and so were my friends. This goes beyond teasing or any kind of banter. As I looked into this guy’s social media sites, it was clear that he does this kind of thing for sport.

“There are laws to protect the public from stuff like this. Police should throw the book at him.”

When we attempted to speak to Wallace at his home last night, he refused to come to the door.

It was answered by a middle-aged woman who said the messages had been posted on Wallace’s account by someone else. She said: “Someone must have hacked in. I have contacted the police about it.”

In the background, Wallace appeared to be sobbing and saying: “Mum, shut the door. Stop talking to them.”

Last night, Wallace’s employers, McDonald’s, were probing the online posts.

A spokesman said: “We have been made aware of comments that have been attributed to an employee and we are investigating as a matter of urgency.”

Celtic fans reported after trouble at Celtic v Motherwell match

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/260188-14-teenagers-reported-after-at-celtic-v-motherwell-fan-trouble/

Fourteen teenagers have been referred to the Children’s Reporter after fan trouble broke out at a Celtic v Motherwell match in December.

The league game, which saw flares and fireworks set off and dozens of seats damaged at Motherwell’s Fir Park stadium, prompted a number of arrests.

The scenes, which took place at the fixture on December 6, also saw damage caused a green smoke bomb thrown into the Celtic penalty area.

A statement from police said: “Following a police operation in Lanarkshire over the weekend a further 14 people, all males aged between 14 and 16, are the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal.

“They have also been referred to the Children's Reporter in connection with alleged disorder following the Motherwell V Celtic match on Saturday December 6.”

A total of six 16-year-olds, five 15-year-olds and three 14-year-olds were reported to the procurator fiscal as a result of the latest operation.

It takes the total number of people reported to 25.

Celtic Football Club at the time condemned the fans who were responsible for the trouble.

In a statement released after the match, the Parkhead club accused the fans responsible of "tarnishing the great reputation of the club" and promised to keep supporters updated on the investigation into the incident.

A spokesman said: “Clearly we are appalled by the scenes from last night´s match and the actions of a small minority which have again tarnished the great reputation of the club and our supporters on a night when our team produced such a fantastic performance.”

A Police Scotland spokesman added: "During the course of the match, 18 smoke bombs, three fireworks, and one flare were set off. Significant damage was caused to seats within the ground and we are looking into this matter along with the club to establish the circumstances."

The match saw Celtic defeat Motherwell 5-0.

Celtic fans arrested over Motherwell riot

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-25718955?SThisFB

Police have arrested 14 teenagers in connection with crowd trouble at last month's SPFL game between Motherwell and Celtic at Fir Park.

Six 16 year olds, five 15 year olds and three 14 year olds - all from the Motherwell area - were held, bringing the total number of arrests to 25.

They will be reported to the procurator fiscal and children's reporter.

During the match, smoke bombs, flares and fireworks were set off. There was also trouble in Motherwell town centre.

A reported £10,000 of damage was caused to seats in a section of Fir Park housing Celtic fans.

Following the match, Celtic suspended 128 fans from their games and relocated 250 season-ticket holders.

The club said it was "appalled" by the disorder and issued precautionary suspensions preventing fans from attending home and away matches.

The 250 season-ticket holders relocated were seated in the Green Brigade's corner of Celtic Park.

Thanks a (Half) Million

'If You Know Their History' crashed through the 500,000 barrier of unique visits over the holiday period.

We also had a record amount of visits during December.

Thanks for your all your support.

Celtic fan jailed over racist Twitter abuse aimed at Rangers players

http://www.clyde1.com/news/local/rangers-twitter-troll-jailed/

An internet troll who intimidated and shocked former Rangers players Maurice Edu and Kyle Bartley by sending racist tweets has been jailed for six months.

The players - who have since left the club - were sent the vile messages from Michael Convery on Twitter after a game against St Johnstone in Perth on January 14, 2012.

Twenty-two year-old  Bartley said he found the messages "intimidating" and thought that "society had got over these sorts of comments".

American footballer Edu, 27, described feeling shocked on seeing the messages he had been sent.

They gave evidence at the trial of Michael Convery, 43, from Linthouse, Glasgow, who was  convicted at Glasgow Sheriff Court of sending racist remarks on Twitter to the players.

Sheriff Valerie Johnston jailed Convery for six months.

Although none of the messages were read out in full in open court, it was heard that Bartley was sent a direct comment from Convery and mentioned in a second one and Edu was sent two direct comments.

Bartley told the court he checked his Twitter account after a match with Rangers, while traveling home on the team bus and saw tweets from an account in the name of Michael Convery.

He also saw a message had been sent to team mate Edu.

He said: "I was sat next to Maurice on the coach. So we showed each other the comments."

Bartley was asked what he did when he received a particular message.

He said: "I actually re-tweeted the tweet. It allowed the public eye to see the comments, and I reported it to David Martin, who is head of security at Glasgow Rangers."

The court heard the word "monkey"  was used, Bartley said it was "a comment he was used to".

Procurator fiscal depute Jonathan Kemp asked how he felt on receiving them and the witness said: "I just felt a little bit hurt and disappointed really.

"I thought it's 2012, I just thought society had got over these sorts of comments.

"Obviously I don't know Michael Convery, I didn't understand why he would have so much hate for me."

Bartley said he lived on his own and can't always have security with him, adding: "I was intimidated".

Edu said he was shocked and embarrassed when he saw the first message that was sent to him.

The footballer said he looked on the page associated with Convery and said there was similar "aggressive" tweets.

He told the court that later that day, after receiving another message he was still shocked and said: "I think that time was when I re-tweeted".

The court heard that in his police interview Convery told officers on the date of the offence he was suffering from food poisoning and was drifting in and out of sleep in his house.

He said that his then 16-year-old son Jordan came round and was in the house at the time the tweets were sent as well as his friend Joseph.

In evidence Convery told the court he suspected his teenage son was to blame although claimed he did not see any comments being posted.

Convery accepted the twitter messages came from his Blackberry phone and his Twitter account.

The court heard evidence that there had been searches using the search engine Google, hours after the tweets were sent for "How to delete Twitter".

Convery was branded an "unreliable" witness by sheriff Johnston.