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08/07/2003
Three Belfast men receive jail sentences in France
Three Belfast men have been sentenced to six months in jail by a French judge following an incident outside a nightclub in Lille.
The men were members of a group who had travelled to France to take part in the Battle of the Somme commemorations. They became involved in an altercation outside a nightclub, during which several of the Northern Ireland men sustained injuries requiring hospital attention.
Five men appeared before the court in Lille, where they claimed they had been defending themselves from right-wing nationalists. However, the judge awarded jail sentences of six months to three of the men. The other two men were freed.
Belfast city councillor and member of the PUP, Billy Hutchinson, who had been present in France during the commemorations, said that the men had been "in the wrong place, at the wrong time".
He added: "They were accused of being English football hooligans, and because of the anti-British and anti-American feelings over the war in Iraq, they found themselves in a situation not of their making."
The three men are set to appeal against their sentences.
(CL)
The men were members of a group who had travelled to France to take part in the Battle of the Somme commemorations. They became involved in an altercation outside a nightclub, during which several of the Northern Ireland men sustained injuries requiring hospital attention.
Five men appeared before the court in Lille, where they claimed they had been defending themselves from right-wing nationalists. However, the judge awarded jail sentences of six months to three of the men. The other two men were freed.
Belfast city councillor and member of the PUP, Billy Hutchinson, who had been present in France during the commemorations, said that the men had been "in the wrong place, at the wrong time".
He added: "They were accused of being English football hooligans, and because of the anti-British and anti-American feelings over the war in Iraq, they found themselves in a situation not of their making."
The three men are set to appeal against their sentences.
(CL)
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