Tottenham fan receives three-year ban for mocking Hillsborough disaster

PA Sport staff

A Tottenham fan has been banned from attending football matches for three years after being found guilty of mocking the Hillsborough disaster.

The Crown Prosecution Service said that Kieron Darlow (25), from Welwyn, made the gestures at the Liverpool v Spurs Premier League game at Anfield on April 30th.

Andrew Page, of CPS Mersey Cheshire, said: “Darlow admitted making a gesture towards the Liverpool fans and that this was a reference to the Hillsborough disaster.

“He admitted that this was to suggest that fans without tickets had pushed forward in the tragedy and had been partly to blame for the crush that led to so many deaths.

⚖️ A fan has been banned from football matches after making mocking 'tragedy' gestures towards @LFC fans in relation to the Hillsborough disaster.

We're working with @MerseyPolice and footballing bodies like @premierleague to stop this behaviour from ruining the game.

— Crown Prosecution Service (@CPSUK) June 13, 2023

“He accepted at court that it was his intention that Liverpool fans should see this and that it would cause them harassment, alarm and distress. He admitted that his behaviour was unacceptable and regrets his actions.

“Darlow knew what he was doing and it was done knowing what an impact the Hillsborough tragedy had on Liverpool fans and the city of Liverpool but he did it anyway. This sort of behaviour is not only morally unacceptable, it is criminal.

“We hope this prosecution sends a message out to all football fans that their behaviour at football games is important and that, if it crosses into criminality, they will be met with the full force of the law.”

Ninety-seven Liverpool fans died as a result of a crush at Hillsborough in 1989. An inquest jury ruled in 2016 that they were unlawfully killed amid a number of police errors.