Football fan from the West Midlands banned after mocking Hillsborough with sick chanting
A football fan from Streetly has been banned from footy matches for three years after mocking the Hillsborough tragedy in a sick chant outside Anfield.
Crystal Palace supporter Stuart Rutter, 41, attended a Liverpool v Palace game on April 14 this year - on the eve of the 35-year anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
Ninety-seven people lost their lives as a result of a crowd crush before an FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield in 1989.
The football fan, from Blue Cedar Drive in Streetly, began chanting outside the Anfield main stand mocking the tragedy, which caused alarm and distress to people attending the game, Merseyside Police said.
Officers then arrested and charged Rutter with a Section 5 Public Order offence.
He was found guilty after trial at South Sefton Magistrates Court on Monday (September 2) and he was issued with the three-year banning order.
He also has to pay a £500 compensation penalty and other fines.
Chief Inspector Iain Wyke said: “This type of behaviour has no place in football.
"We will take action and identify those who commit hate crime in any form, and this includes unacceptable chanting which causes distress to others.
“Merseyside Police will work to identify and bring to justice anyone found responsible for committing a hate crime.
“I hope this sends a clear message and acts as a deterrent to others that we will be put you before the courts to be prosecuted.”