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Four thugs expelled as French target known troublemakers

Sunday 21 June 1998 23:02 BST
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KNOWN FOOTBALL hooligans will be banned from France for life under tough new measures agreed after a high level meeting between French and British officials last night.

Any category C hooligans - those considered by police to be the organisers of violence - will be arrested the moment they are spotted in France and expelled.

Within hours of the announcement of the radical new approach, four category C thugs were arrested and expelled from the country.

But last night's arrests may be only the tip of the iceberg. Police intelligence sources said that they had spotted up to 50 category B and C hooligans in Toulouse in the run-up to tonight's match against Romania.

Four fans were arrested yesterday for no particular offence but because they had been identified by British spotter police. Earlier, Martin Townsend, of Manchester, one of Britain's most notorious football thugs, was stopped from entering France by customs officials at the Gard du Nord station in Paris.

In an operation which police say underlines the close co- operation between French and British forces, Mr Townsend's movements were tracked from Manchester to Paris, where he arrived on the Eurostar. "At Paris he was spoken to by the authorities and got straight back on the train. He was not allowed to enter France because he was considered a threat to public order," a British embassy source said.

In 1991, Townsend received a four-year prison sentence for assault causing grievous bodily harm with intent and rioting at a game. In 1989 he received a seven-year exclusion order banning him from football grounds.

The other three men were arrested in a Toulouse bar. A spokeswoman for the city's regional prefect said they were arrested on the basis that they were known hooligans. A decision will be made today over whether to deport them.

A British embassy spokes-man in Toulouse last night outlined the tough new measures agreed by French and British officials. He said that anyone expelled from France would have an expulsion order placed against them.

"The order is not time- limited. It is administrative order but when it is first imposed it is intended to be permanent," he added.

Last night, there was further trouble when up to 200 England fans were involved in a tense standoff with French riot police in the centre of Toulouse after they blocked the main road to the centre of the city.

Police in full riot gear marched in a cordon towards the England supporters who had gathered outside an English theme pub, the Melting Pot.

One full can of beer and a bottle were thrown at police as a tense standoff ensued, lasting five or ten minutes. It was the only reported trouble in the city.

One England supporter, seen kicking a television cameraman was seized by a police snatch squad, but he was released moments later after his girlfriend screamed to police officers that they were not hooligans.

Police at ports and airports were on the look-out for up to 90 troublemakers involved in rioting in Marseilles who were captured on screen.

The approach of police in Toulouse has been much more high-profile than that in Marseilles. Riot police have been patrolling the streets and there will be up to 2,000 officers on duty today.

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