This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/22/sussex-police-breach-foi-crystal-palace-fans
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Sussex police breach FoI act after Crystal Palace fans take action | Sussex police breach FoI act after Crystal Palace fans take action |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Sussex police breached the Freedom of Information Act and have been issued with a decision notice by the Information Commissioner’s Office after failing to explain why they had alleged Crystal Palace supporters were armed with “knives and knuckle-dusters” at the game against Brighton last November. | Sussex police breached the Freedom of Information Act and have been issued with a decision notice by the Information Commissioner’s Office after failing to explain why they had alleged Crystal Palace supporters were armed with “knives and knuckle-dusters” at the game against Brighton last November. |
| The police apologised to both clubs and their supporters in early December after superintendent Simon Nelson, who had led the policing operation at the clubs’ first meeting for more than four years, had suggested a day after the goalless draw that incidents around the fixture had represented “a return to the dark days of football”. He had gone on to state: “Significant number of people attempted to enter the ground with pyrotechnics, knives and knuckle-dusters, which were found following efforts to gain access through fire exit doors in the south stand.” | The police apologised to both clubs and their supporters in early December after superintendent Simon Nelson, who had led the policing operation at the clubs’ first meeting for more than four years, had suggested a day after the goalless draw that incidents around the fixture had represented “a return to the dark days of football”. He had gone on to state: “Significant number of people attempted to enter the ground with pyrotechnics, knives and knuckle-dusters, which were found following efforts to gain access through fire exit doors in the south stand.” |
| Brighton accuse Crystal Palace fans of ‘disorder’ as derby ends in stalemate | Brighton accuse Crystal Palace fans of ‘disorder’ as derby ends in stalemate |
| The Palace fanzine Five Year Plan, intent on discovering how the original allegation had come into the public domain, duly submitted a number of FoI requests before the turn of the year to which, in February, Sussex police responded by refusing to disclose any information on public interest grounds. Three further attempts by the fans’ group to argue against that decision went ignored, prompting a complaint to the Information Commission’s Office in June. | The Palace fanzine Five Year Plan, intent on discovering how the original allegation had come into the public domain, duly submitted a number of FoI requests before the turn of the year to which, in February, Sussex police responded by refusing to disclose any information on public interest grounds. Three further attempts by the fans’ group to argue against that decision went ignored, prompting a complaint to the Information Commission’s Office in June. |
| The ICO, having scrutinised the correspondence around the case, has now upheld Five Year Plan’s complaint and determined that Sussex police, by failing to respond to the request for information, breached sections 1(1) and 10(1) of the Freedom of Information Act. They are now compelled either to comply with the request and issue a substantive response or to issue a valid refusal notice, within the next five weeks. Any failure to do so could be deemed as a contempt of court. The police have the right to appeal against the decision notice. | The ICO, having scrutinised the correspondence around the case, has now upheld Five Year Plan’s complaint and determined that Sussex police, by failing to respond to the request for information, breached sections 1(1) and 10(1) of the Freedom of Information Act. They are now compelled either to comply with the request and issue a substantive response or to issue a valid refusal notice, within the next five weeks. Any failure to do so could be deemed as a contempt of court. The police have the right to appeal against the decision notice. |
| Neither club had made mention of weapons being found in their own statements, issued in the aftermath of the game, with Sussex police issuing a statement 10 days later admitting none had been retrieved. “The reference to weapons being found discarded at the stadium following the Brighton v Crystal Palace match on November 28 was based on information logged by our officers on the night and done so in good faith,” they said. | Neither club had made mention of weapons being found in their own statements, issued in the aftermath of the game, with Sussex police issuing a statement 10 days later admitting none had been retrieved. “The reference to weapons being found discarded at the stadium following the Brighton v Crystal Palace match on November 28 was based on information logged by our officers on the night and done so in good faith,” they said. |
| “Subsequently it has been established that no such items were physically recovered at the stadium or in the city. We accept that this information was incorrect and the tweet published earlier today by one of our officers [Nelson] was wrong. Sussex police apologises to both clubs and their supporters.” | “Subsequently it has been established that no such items were physically recovered at the stadium or in the city. We accept that this information was incorrect and the tweet published earlier today by one of our officers [Nelson] was wrong. Sussex police apologises to both clubs and their supporters.” |
| Crystal Palace | Crystal Palace |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| Police | Police |
| news | news |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |