No prosecution of Ajax fans who attacked Celtic fans

PROSECUTORS are facing the wrath of football fans and politicians after they allowed a gang of suspected Dutch hooligans to get off scot-free.

Fifteen Ajax supporters were identified as being behind a sickening attack on a number of Celtic bars, which left one pub owner requiring three titanium plates in his face for life.

But the Crown Office has decided to offload responsibility for justice to public prosecutors in Holland.

Billy Gold, one of the bar owners caught up in the mayhem said: “It’s a disgrace. If it had been homegrown hooligans, they would have been locked up that night and be in the Sheriff Court in the morning.”

Terror came to the east end of Glasgow in November 2015, when Celtic played host to Dutch side Ajax in a Europa League tie.

Despite advance warnings that Dutch hooligans were coming to Scotland for trouble, up to 40 visitors wearing masks and balaclavas were able to launch a highly-organised attack on four pubs popular with Celtic supporters.

Most were able to pull down the shutters to protect terrified fans inside but staff and patrons of the Hoops Bar on Gallowgate were targeted.

Bar boss Neil O’Donnell, 37, was battered senseless with an iron bar. When police eventually arrived, the thugs were still jumping on his head.

Mr O’Donnell said later: “I’ve got three titanium plates in my face, held together with six screws. Unfortunately, that is there permanently.”

Electrician Grant Kelly was dragged into the street with Mr O’Donnell. Friends told him that at one time, he was being kicked around the pavement by 30 people.

The 29-year-old from Hillington in Glasgow said: “It was incredible. I must have suffered concussion because the police found me in Central Station around an hour later, covered in blood.

“I have no idea how I got there. My cheekbone was fractured in three places, I lost seven or eight teeth and my jaw was broken in three places as well.

“To hear that our prosecutors have dropped it really angers me but somehow does not surprise me. Someone should be facing a charge of attempted murder.”

Using intelligence supplied by Dutch Police, the Crown Office were able to identify 15 suspects – one of them a woman – who had successfully made it back to Holland after the game.

Legal officials in Edinburgh were able to supply Scottish media with the ages, if not the names, of those believed to be behind the attack.

But more than 20 months later, the Crown Office has now admitted there is no prospect of anyone being held responsible in Scotland.

Instead, the Crown Office approached the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service and asked them to pursue the 15 individuals.

Murray Macara, a solicitor in Glasgow and a member of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee said: “I have never encountered this situation before.

“The Scottish authorities are basically asking the Dutch to take up the case because they did not want to do it themselves.

“You now need to ask yourself if the Dutch have the stomach for this. Are they really going to bother taking this to court?

“They will also be asking themselves if it’s in the public interest – in the Netherlands – to seek justice for victims in Scotland.”

In a statement, the Crown Office said: “The Procurator Fiscal at Glasgow received a report concerning a 23-year-old female and fourteen males aged between 19 and 38, in connection with alleged incidents on 26 November 2015.

“After carefully considering the facts and circumstances and discussing with representatives from the Netherlands, Crown Counsel instructed that the matter be transferred there for Dutch prosecutors to take forward.”

Billy Gold, 60, the owner of the Hielan Jessie pub, which was also attacked, said: “It was horrifying. This was violence on an industrial scale.

“It is disgraceful to think we endured all that grief and no-one is going to be prosecuted here. It’s all down to expediency and probably the cost of hauling them over from Amsterdam.”

Liam Kerr, the Conservatives’ justice spokesman said: “This was undoubtedly a barbaric attack.

“The Dutch authorities owe it to the victims to ensure that these hooligans are punished in the appropriate manner.”

Scottish Labour justice spokesperson Claire Baker MSP said: “This is a highly unusual situation and it is vital that justice is delivered to victims.”

MSP Claire Baker has called for thugs to be brought to justice.

A spokesman for the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service in Amsterdam said: “The Scottish Prosecutor Service has asked our office in June 2017 to take over the criminal proceedings of 15 persons who allegedly committed crimes in Glasgow.

Our legal assistance prosecutor has asked his counterpart in Scotland to send files and other relevant documents.

“Up until today we haven’t received these necessary files and documents.”