UK home secretary vows to 'nail' hooligan

British Home Secretary David Blunkett vowed today to “nail” the English football hooligan who walked free because of an apparent legal blunder.

Firefighter Garry Mann was jailed for two years by a Portuguese court but he will not serve the sentence because he was expelled too soon for him to be legally jailed in the UK.

But Mr Blunkett said he was determined not to let 46-year-old Mann get away with it.

“I am working very hard on this because I haven’t given up on the idea that we are going to be able to nail this individual,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Mann appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court yesterday for the start of proceedings to ban him from attending football matches.

The British authorities are now in discussions with their Portuguese counterparts to ensure cases like Mann’s do not happen again.

The Birmingham City fan, from Faversham, Kent, was sentenced at 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 in the Algarve town on Monday.

Mann 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 Britain, 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,” a Home Office spokeswoman said.

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

He appeared before Uxbridge magistrates, west London, yesterday 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 into his allegations of hooliganism.

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

There is still the possibility that Portugal could require Mann to be returned there to serve his sentence.

Tim Morris, deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Lisbon, said: “If the Portuguese authorities wish to ask for an individual back, the European arrest warrant is in place between the countries and any requests will be dealt with seriously and on their individual merits.”

He said he did not know how seriously the Portuguese might pursue such a possible request.

He said Mann had been sentenced under permanent legislation in Portugal but expelled under temporary legislation.

David Swift, the senior British police officer advising the Portuguese, admitted he was “disappointed” with the outcome of the Mann case.

He said: “If you follow the newspapers today, I’m suppose to be furious, distraught. I am disappointed, it’s fair to say that, but the process of getting a visible deterrent has been powerful.

“For the individual concerned, I would have thought that the experience he has gone through in the last two or three days, including all the media attention, is a powerful deterrent to anyone who is thinking about getting into trouble.

“Our relations with the Portuguese police are stronger than ever.”