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1,000 English hooligans to be allowed to go to World Cup after bans expireDaily Telegraph, UKOne thousand known English football hooligans will be allowed to travel to the World Cup in Germany this summer because their "banning orders" have expired.
The thugs were considered so dangerous that they were prohibited by the courts from attending matches in this country or going abroad to watch England play. But the bans have been steadily expiring since the summer of 2004 and have not been renewed.
Fears of violence at the World Cup grew last week with the stabbing of three Middlesbrough fans in Rome. British police blamed the clashes on an "organised group of Italian thugs".
A convicted football hooligan Andy Nicholls, whose banning order expired last year, confirmed that he would go to Germany and said he expects others in his position to do the same: "I should imagine a lot of people who have been banned are going to go out, whether it be for the football or other activities. Anyone who comes straight off a ban and causes trouble is going to be a bit daft - but there's a lot of daft ones out there."
Despite the threat, the head of Britain's World Cup policing operation said hooligans whose bans had run out would be treated no differently to any other fans. Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Thomas of Greater Manchester Police, who will lead a team of 79 British officers in Germany during the tournament, said: "We hope they want to go back to watching football and will not make the same mistakes again. We won't be targeting them, because they have served their penalty and served their ban."
Up to 100,000 English supporters are expected to travel to the World Cup. Organisers fear clashes between the English and gangs of Germans, Poles, Czechs, Serbs and Croats.
A record 3,500 Britons will be subject to banning orders during the event. They must surrender their passports and report to local police stations on England match days. The courts can extend the orders to individuals who are judged to pose a continuing threat, but have done so for only 12 of the 593 orders that expired between January 2005 and February 2006. A further 185 banning orders will expire between February and June this year, while an estimated 240 expired in the second half of 2004, making a total of around 1,000.
A Home Office spokesman said: "Renewal orders are only sought if there is evidence that the subject continues to pose a risk of violence or disorder at football matches."
Mr Nicholls, 43, was banned for two years in 2003 for his involvement in a pub fight between Everton and Aston Villa fans. He maintains that he was only helping injured victims to escape. He now claims to be a reformed character. He has recounted his violent exploits in his book, Scally - The Shocking Confessions of a Category C Football Hooligan. He said: "I was a hard core hooligan, I don't deny that. I deserved a ban, I took it on the chin, I've done my time and I've learnt my lesson."
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