An English soccer supporter who threw debris and gave Nazi salutes during the Lansdowne Road riot was banned yesterday from ever entering Ireland again. Steven Smith (31), of Westfield Road, Ashfield Caravan Site, Burringham Road, Scunthorpe, Humberside was also given a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to pay £2,500 to the Hospice for the Dying within seven days.
Smith pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to a charge of violent disorder at the Ireland-England soccer friendly on February 15th, 1995.
Judge Kieran O'Connor told Smith that the riot had been a particularly disgraceful episode and he was a disgrace to England and to the game of soccer.
Judge O'Connor said it was fortunate for Smith that he was able to divorce this case from the events in Rome at the weekend when English soccer supporters battled Italian police.
"It is getting to the stage that English soccer fans will not be allowed to travel anywhere.
"We don't want people like you who are going to come over to Ireland, get hysterical at a match and engage in obnoxious violence", said the judge.
Garda Eamon Whelan said that during the violence he saw Smith in the upper west stand giving "Nazi-style" salutes, breaking seats and throwing the debris down on the lower stand. Garda Whelan agreed with Mr Luigi Rea, defending, that he feared for the safety of the fans in the lower stand. He accepted that Smith was not part of any of the groups who organised the riot.
In his statement Smith said his mind went blank and he lost control when the trouble started. He copied the actions of others.
Mr Rea said his client was separated and as a result of the publicity surrounding his arrest he had lost his job with Tesco. He spent five days on remand in Mountjoy before getting bail. He was sorry for what he had done.