Last summer, Jeff Marsh of the Welsh Defence League and Casuals United explained how “police betrayal” had led to his arrest, just because he was standing up to Muslim extremists:
As you probably know, the powers that be decided to lift me from outside a pub where a scuffle was occuring which was nothing to do with me, arrest me for nothing, then when they got me to police station they advised me that I was being arrested for incitement to religious hatred in reference to some videos I had on youtube.
They held me for 24hrs wouldnt let me speak to my wife at all, pulled my house to bits, damaging a lot of books in the process and have now bailed me after charging me with this ridiculous affray charge.
For some reason, it slipped his mind to mention that he had been arrested while carrying an offensive weapon. Wales Online has the latest:
FOOTBALL hooligan Jeff Marsh has been banned from football grounds for five years after admitting affray.
The 44-year-old Cardiff City supporter was found in possession of a knuckleduster when he was arrested for affray outside the Ninian Park pub in Canton, Cardiff, last June.
The self-proclaimed hooligan, who has written two books about his exploits with the city’s infamous Soul Crew and is one of the organisers of the Welsh Defence League, was fighting with Celtic fans after the inaugural match between the teams at Cardiff’s new stadium.
Marsh, from Barry, admitted affray and possession of an offensive weapon at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court in January and was sentenced yesterday.
So much for the idea of football “casuals” uniting against Islamism. But perhaps an exception was being made for Celtic; in September, Scotland Today reported that
…When Casuals United emerged last summer to protest against radical Islam around the same time as the EDL, hooligan gangs across Britain set up a Casuals United Facebook page, which listed the clubs they followed. Rangers were the only Scottish team listed.
The various “Defence Leagues” have also shown an interest in becoming involved with loyalist marches in Northern Ireland, although the UDA is reportedly not keen on the idea.
l blogged on Marsh’s hooligan memoir here; he thanked me for the extra sales that he says resulted.
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