Wigan blow in police row

Wigan failed to see off Greater Manchester Police in their High Court battle over policing bills today.

The Barclays Premier League club had accused GMP of unfair tactics at their home games by trebling the cost of policing matches at the JJB Stadium.

The Latics asked a High Court judge to referee the legal battle over a bill approaching £300,000 (€415,000).

But Mr Justice Mann, who gave his ruling today, allowed the police to claim some of the money from the club but called on the two sides to get together before each season to agree on how policing is to be paid for.

He had been told at a hearing in October that Wigan used to be charged for special policing services they requested inside the stadium.

But now the police also demand payment for the area surrounding the stadium.

Adam Lewis, representing the club, had told the judge the police were taking advantage of Wigan’s circumstances as a Premier League team to charge for special policing at a very much higher level than other clubs in the area.

GMP charged the club £226,184 in the 2003-04 season and £283,082 for 2004-05, compared with £61,058 (€84,000) in 2002-03.

The club were charged for nearly three times the number of police on duty at the matches than before the club was promoted to the Premier League.

When Wigan originally refused to pay the higher bill, the police threatened to withdraw their services for this season, which would have meant no home matches.

Mr Lewis said: “Wigan had no choice but to pay the balance, but did so expressly under protest and without prejudice to its defence in the action.”

He said Wigan’s case was that the GMP can only charge for officers on duty within the stadium, inside the turnstiles, where only ticket holders can go.

The GMP said it was entitled in law to charge Wigan for officers who are deployed in the stadium and in the surrounding area, including car parks, roads and open ground.

The judge went through each match for which the police had sought payment and said that, with one possible exception over how long Police Support Units were deployed, it would allow the parties to work out the sums due.

He said it was “an unsatisfactory” case to try.

“The time taken in dealing with matters of detail on less than a quarter of the disputed matches shows how undesirable it is to approach matters on this basis,” he said.

“There was no alternative in the case before me, but it should not be allowed to happen again. It is vital that the club and police get together before each season and reach an agreement as to how policing is to be paid for.”

He said each side must be flexible and there will have to be “give and take”.

The judge said it could never be an exact science but he hoped the courts would not be faced with having to carry out the exercise again.