Four plead guilty after rioting

30/03/2009 15:57:09

Four Polish men involved in rioting in Belfast on Saturday have admitted charges of disorderly behaviour at Laganside Magistrates Court.

It follows trouble on Saturday before, during and after a World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park between NI and Poland.

Three of the men were given two-month sentences, suspended for one year.

The case against the fourth man, who has also admitted having a firework without a licence, was adjourned until 27 April.

The three men who have already been given suspended sentences were Tomasz Bobrowicz, 30, from Suffolk, England, Przemyslaw Pawel Kusmierczyk, 28, from Liverpool, and Lukasz Szwajda, 22, from London.

The fourth man was Tomasz Jakobik, 26, from University Avenue in Belfast.

They were all arrested on Saturday afternoon after trouble flared inside a pub on Bedford Street in Belfast city centre.

The game should not have been played at a quarter past five on Saturday knowing the potential for trouble and the amount of alcohol that would be taken

Councillor Bob Stoker

A police constable told the court he did not believe the four men had been involved in "anything orchestrated or pre-planned" and that they were "on the periphery of things".

Ulster Unionist Councillor Bob Stoker criticised the kickoff time.

He said it should have started before 1715 GMT given the potential for trouble.

"The game should not have been played at a quarter past five on Saturday knowing the potential for trouble and the amount of alcohol that would be taken," Mr Stoker said.

Eleven police officers were injured during the trouble which occurred at a number of various flashpoints in south Belfast.