police scotland 3Football-related violence has resulted in 14 arrests following a disturbance before the match between Hearts and Kilmarnock last month.

At around 3pm on Saturday 3 October police were called to McLeod Street near Tynecastle Stadium in response to a report of a fight involving more than 20 rival supporters.

Additional officers attended the scene and assisted in breaking up the disturbance resulting in the arrest of a 21-year-old man from Kilmarnock.

A number of other people involved fled the area however following an extensive police investigation conducted by divisional officers and the Football Coordination Unit (FoCUS), which is a specialist police resource designed to tackle violence, disorder and anti-social behaviour associated with football, a further 14 males, aged 28, 24, 23, 19, 18, 17, 17, 17, 16, 16, 16, 15, 15, 14, have now been arrested and charged for various offences.

All are expected to appear before Edinburgh Sheriff Court on February 17, 2016.

Inspector Bob Innes of Police Scotland said: “We treat such incidents extremely seriously.

“The safety of everyone attending football matches is of paramount importance and violence and disorder will not be tolerated.

“Thanks to some excellent police work and with the assistance of our partners at Hearts Football Club, we have successfully traced and charged 14 males in connection with this incident.

“They will appear in court in due course and in the meantime they have been ordered not to attend at any regulated football match in the UK.

“I can reassure the public that anyone involved in this sort of criminal activity will be swiftly dealt with.”

Website | + posts

Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.