Supporter tagged for breaking soccer order

A FAILSWORTH football fan has been given a weekend curfew after breaking a banning order for the third time.

Oldham magistrates ordered Josh Welden (23), of James Street, to be electronically tagged during weekend afternoons for the next three months.

The court heard yesterday how Welden had breached his football banning order — to not be within a mile of Boundary Park on match days four hours before or after matches — during the derby fixture between Oldham Athletic and Rochdale on January 3.

Police officers spotted Welden outside the Carters Arms pub in Royton 20 minutes after the 3pm kick-off.

The prosecution said police reported him shouting at the patrol. A check showed Mr Welden had broken the order’s conditions as the pub was 0.8 miles from the ground.

In mitigation, it was said that Welden had drunk in the pub on a number of occasions and was unaware that it lay within the one-mile boundary.

He was handed the three-year order in September, 2008.

The court heard how Welden paid a £120 fine for breaching the order in October, 2008, and £155 for breaking the conditions again in December, 2009.

The chairman of the magistrates said: “It seems a bit ridiculous. You have been fined twice already but it seems it has not made a sufficient impression upon you.”

Welden will have to stay at home between the hours of noon and 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays for the next three months and was ordered to pay £85 in costs.