Knicked off of F365

Judge Lets Off Tout Because He Has Not Heard Of Gunners

A JUDGE threw out a case against a self-confessed ticket tout yesterday because nobody could give him proof that Arsenal were a designated Premiership club - and he had never heard of the Gunners despite sitting at Highbury Magistrates Court.

Robert Brennan was allowed free from court because District Judge Michael Johnstone has no interest in football and would not accept that Arsenal were in a recognised league without proof which the prosecution could not provide.

Brennan had been arrested by an undercover policeman after offering to sell him a £25 ticket for a Highbury clash with Manchester City for £75. He could have been fined up to £600 for 'selling a ticket for a designated football match without permission' if Judge Johnstone had believed that Arsenal were a designated Premiership club.

After the verdict Sgt Francis Richmond-Illing, in charge of the fight against ticket touts in the area, was an angry man, saying: "This makes a mockery of our attempts to stop the black market. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard why the case was dismissed."

Brennan himself told The Sun: "I was laughing because the judge said he didn't know who Arsenal were and we were half a mile from the ground."

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2000

Answers

Clearly a Spurs fan....don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same if it was the hakkems (although how you can sell something the club are giving away remains to be seen).

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2000

Sounds like an over cocky prosecution, and a judge effectively telling them not to be so sloppy. There's often a overly cosy relationship between judges and barristers, and you get the feeling that judges treat some cases as tuition exercises, regardless of whether they think someone's guilty or not.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2000