Security guards heard the 52-year-old acting suspiciously in the toilet cubicles
A football fan who snorted cocaine at a League One game has become the first man in Britain to be banned from all matches for taking drugs.
Tony John Bordley, 52, took the class A drug after he travelled to watch his team Charlton Athletic play rivals Burton Albion FC.
Security guards heard Bordley acting suspiciously in the toilet cubicles in the East Stand of the Pirelli Stadium on November 12 and called over Staffordshire Police’s football officer PC Rich Lymer, who was on duty at the time.
Lymer approached Bordley once he came out of the cubicle and he admitted taking cocaine before handing over a bag of the drug from his wallet.
He was arrested for possessing a controlled drug of class A and removed from the ground.
Bordley, of Belvedere, Kent, admitted the charges and was given a three-year football banning order at Cannock Magistrates’ Court on November 30 – becoming the first fan to be issued with a Football Banning Order (FBO) for drug offences after it became law last month.
Read also: ‘I did three grams of coke during a game’: Inside football’s problem with Class A drugs
The new legislation means fans who commit class A drug offences at matches can now be banned for up to ten years and receive a criminal conviction.
For the next three years, Bordley can’t attend a football match in the UK or travel abroad to watch England internationals.
Part of the order also means he can’t go within two miles of a football match, in order to stop him from mixing with supporters on match days.
He will also have to surrender his passport when England play away fixtures.
Lymer said: “We’ve become the first police force in the country to secure a banning order for this offence which will greatly benefit matchday experiences in Staffordshire moving forward. “Those intent on taking harmful drugs into footballs stadiums will be dealt with proportionately and brought to justice.”
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, NPCC Lead for Football Policing, added: “This court result should act as a warning to anyone who is considering taking drugs to football.
“If you get caught, you will be banned from all matches for a minimum of three years and will also receive a criminal record.
“Drugs and alcohol continue to be persistent drivers of poor behaviour in football, and wider society, and the introduction of these banning orders is a positive step in tackling the problem.”
Related links:
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- New mother dies after taking cocaine on first night out after birth
- World’s first cocaine bar switches location every month so it can stay open
- ‘Middle-class coke heads’ who do drugs at football games face five-year ban
- Pubs using ‘anti-cocaine’ spray clearly don’t know how people actually take drugs
