Jail and ban for England fans at Euro 2016

Two England fans have been jailed and banned from France after appearing in a Marseille court charged in connection with violence at the weekend.

Alexander Booth and Ian Hepworth were the first fans to be dealt with after the widespread trouble in the French port city, which left another fan with severe head injuries and Euro 2016 organiser Uefa threatening to ban England and Russia if there is any repeat.

Booth, 20, of Huddersfield, was jailed for two months for throwing a bottle at police and banned from France for two years. Hepworth, 41, a psychiatric nurse from Sheffield, was given a three-month sentence for the same offence and the same ban.

Reacting to the sentence, Booth’s father Chris, who was later seen in tears, said “I’ll fight it” and “miscarriage”.

Before being dealt with, Booth told the court: “I would like to say sorry to the police and to the people and city of Marseille. This is not like me; I’m not a violent person. I love my job and my family. I’ve never been involved in football hooliganism. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Booth was accused of throwing a plastic bottle at the police. Still wearing his England shirt, he said it may have looked like it was aimed for the police, but it was not.