Blunder frees soccer hooligan

English hooligans were tonight warned they will serve jail terms dished out by Portuguese courts after an apparent blunder saw one ringleader escape his sentence.

Garry Mann, jailed for two years by an Algarve court this week, will not serve time behind bars because he was expelled too soon for him to be legally jailed in the UK.

But the 46-year-old firefighter did appear in a British court this morning for the start of proceedings to ban him from attending football matches.

And as trouble flared yet again in the Portuguese town of Albufeira last night, English fans were warned anyone guilty of violence during Euro 2004 will serve any punishment given.

The British authorities are now in discussions with their Portuguese counterparts to ensure cases like Mann’s do not happen again, a Home Office spokeswoman said.

She added: “We want to get the message across that anyone given a custodial sentence in Portugal can expect to serve that sentence when they return to the UK.

“We are in discussions with the Portuguese to make sure that happens.

Birmingham City fan Mann, from Faversham, Kent, received his jail sentence after a fast-track court hearing in Albufeira on Wednesday night.

He was identified by the judge as a ringleader in the rioting which involved around 200 fans on Monday.

But he was then expelled from the country instead of being taken to a Portuguese prison to begin his sentence.

Under the Council of Europe’s convention on transfer of sentenced prisoners, British citizens receiving jail terms in an EU country have to be detained and then apply for repatriation if they are to serve their term back home.

Because that did not happen, Mann was effectively a free man when he returned to UK soil leaving the British Home Office with no legal framework to detain him here.

“If he had been put into prison he would have been transferred home and served his sentence.

There are provisions in place,” the British Home Office spokeswoman said.

The most senior British officer at Euro 2004, Staffordshire Deputy Chief Constable David Swift was said to be “disappointed” by the outcome of the case.

But a Portuguese police spokesman said officers had done their job and: “It is a matter for the lawyers and the courts.”

Mann was among 11 other England fans accused of rioting who flew into London’s Heathrow airport late last night after being deported.

He appeared before Uxbridge Magistrates Court, north London, this morning before being bailed as the bid to secure a football banning order against him began.

He was told to surrender his passport and will reappear at the court on July 28.

He may also face the sack from Kent Fire Service which is now conducting an internal inquiry in to his allegations of hooliganism.

A spokeswoman said Mann will be suspended from duty and spoken to in the next few days before a decision on any possible disciplinary action is taken.

Two Britons were arrested in Albufeira overnight as violence sparked for a third time.

Following the first clashes late on Monday night, violence sparked again during the early hours of Wednesday resulting in 33 English fans being taken to court and agreeing to be deported.

And yesterday another three agreed to be expelled after being arrested.

Mann is the only one so far to have received a prison sentence.

The Home Office spokeswoman insisted the UK and Portuguese authorities were working well together and had been planning for the tournament for two years.

Meanwhile there could be 3,000 plus empty seats at Monday’s crucial England-Croatia match in Lisbon, it emerged today.

The situation has arisen because the Football Association bought about 4,000 tickets which were not wanted by the Croatia FA for the match at the Estadio da Luz.

Those were in addition to the official allocation of around 12,000 tickets for people in the englandfans membership organisation.

However englandfans has been closed to new members for several months and it is thought existing members already had as many tickets as they wanted for the Croatia game.