Football hooligans admit Shrewsbury town centre fight
Sixteen football hooligans, including four teenagers, have admitted being part of a massive town centre brawl before a Shrewsbury Town match.
They were involved in a fight with a rival group from the West Midlands before Shrewsbury's League One match with Walsall on October 14 last year.
And they have been warned by a judge that they could face lengthy bans from football matches for their actions.
The fighting in Shrewsbury started in Mardol before spilling into Smithfield Road in front of horrified Sunday shoppers.
Three police officers were injured as they tried to restore order, including Constable Lee Saunders who suffered a broken leg.
All 16 were banned from attending any Premier League or Football League matches until they are sentenced when they appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday.
They must also stay away from Shrewsbury Town's Greenhous Meadow ground as a condition of being granted bail.
Fifteen of the men admitted charges of violent disorder, while another pleaded guilty to encouraging other people to engage in violence.
The men include Shrewsbury residents Russell Wilson, 47, Lewis Gardiner, 18, Alexander Pugh, 18, Calum Marsh, 23, Stephen Hawkesford, 36, David Jones, also 36, Callum Gwilliams, 19,
Luke Dodd, 24, 19-year-old Aaron Pinches, Daniel Jones, 25, Shaun Peach, 24, and Simon Llewellyn, 34, as well as Paul Walker, 42, and Andrew Copeland, 38, both from Church Stretton, and Ross Gall, 29, from Weston-super-Mare.
Another man, Talal Alsadek, 29, from Shrewsbury, denied a charge of violent disorder but admitted encouraging other people to engage in violence.
He will not face trial for the violent disorder charge.
Judge Robin Onions said the men could all face longer bans from football matches as part of their sentences, and granted them all conditional bail.
The men will all be sentenced in the week of September 16.
Two further men have denied charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in connection with the brawl. They will face trial on a date to be set.
The men have been brought before the court after an extensive investigation by officers at West Mercia Police, who used CCTV footage of the fight to establish the role played by everyone involved.
On the day of the match 15 people were arrested by police. Seven people were arrested in connection with the fight before the match, while a number of other incidents also took place inside and outside the ground.
In total 29 people were charged over the brawl, and the men from the West Midlands involved will appear at Shrewsbury Crown Court next week.
