UEFA Cup rioter 'didn't deserve jail'

David Moroney • Published 6 Sep 2010 14:00

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THE mum of a Greenock UEFA Cup rioter jailed after hurling bottles at police today insisted he did not deserve to be locked up.

Carol Murphy claimed her son Thomas, 28, from Flatterton Road, had tried to escape the violence which marred the showpiece final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg in May 2008.

And she hit out at the 14-month prison sentence handed to him at Manchester Crown Court on Friday.

Describing an emotional phonecall she received from Murphy at the height of the Cup final violence, the 52-year-old said: “He was screaming and saying they were killing a policeman. He was trying to get away from it all.

“He’s no angel, but there’s no badness in him. What happened was alcohol-related, but it’s awful the way he’s being portrayed.

“Everyone knows he’s from a good, hard-working family. His boss from the building firm has been on the phone saying his job will be waiting for him.”

The Greenock mum added: “He was seen on CCTV throwing something, but he was also seen on CCTV just wandering about drunk.

“He was described as looking like a lost soul.”

Dad-of-one Murphy had earlier admitted violent disorder during the UEFA Cup final riots.

He has also been hit with a six-year football banning order for his part in the mayhem.

The football fan already had a string of convictions including assaulting police officers, assault, carrying an offensive weapon, breach of the peace and an unspecified football-related conviction.

Seven days after the trouble in Manchester he was sentenced in Scotland for breach of the peace and assault on a matter which was unrelated.

A total of 11 people were jailed for their role in the violence on Friday - with one other man being handed a suspended sentence.

Passing sentence on the group on Friday, after the Tele went to press, Judge Andrew Blake told how riot police had struggled to contain the trouble and restore order.

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 06 Sep 10

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