Football fans get £100,000 payout after police attack

A group of peaceful football fans who were attacked by baton-wielding police in a pub are to receive compensation of about £100,000 between them.

The fans were drinking at a Manchester pub in April 1998 after Newcastle United's 1-0 FA Cup semi-final victory over Sheffield United at Old Trafford when the officers launched an assault, described by their force as "despicable."

One of the many injured, a retired police inspector, Russell Grayson, was smashed over the head and left lying on the pavement. Doctors put four staples into his head to secure a wound.

Mr Grayson, 55, with the Northumbria force for 30 years, said his attackers were "nothing more than thugs in uniform".

The Newcastle United supporter said: "If one of my sons had come home injured and blamed the police I would have told him it must have been his fault, he must have done something to deserve it. I would never have believed officers could behave in such a way." His compensation will be more than £10,000.

Another injured man was Graham Helling, a senior executive at Merseyside Chamber of Commerce. Mr Helling, 44, a training, policy and strategy manager, will also receive a payout. He said the atmosphere in the pub before the attack had been "very friendly." Both sets of fans had been sharing drinks.

Mr Helling said: "A line of about a dozen police in riot gear and face masks came in and we thought there must have been trouble in the back of the pub. We parted to let them through.

"What happened next was unbelievable. The police lined us up against the wall then suddenly charged through the pub lashing out with batons."

The Police Complaints Authority upheld complaints from fans in the pub after an investigation completed in March 2000. However, none of the officers responsible has faced disciplinary or criminal charges because they could not be identified. The PCA said one or more of the police officers had used "excessive and unjustified force".

Greater Manchester Police said it "sincerely" regretted the officers responsible had not been identified, adding that every officer "involved" had been spoken to personally by the assistant chief constable "in the strongest possible terms".

A statement said: "We do not tolerate this type of despicable behaviour in evidence on this occasion, and had those responsible been identified, it is without doubt that they would have faced both criminal and disciplinary proceedings."

The force said that because of the case all officers in its tactical aid unit had identification numbers displayed on their protective head gear.