A football fan who held a smoke flare above his head at a Dunfermline v Falkirk match has been slapped with a football banning order.
Jack Hamilton, 24, was spotted by police holding the pyrotechnic device in the north-west stand at East End Park during the Scottish Championship fixture on August 10 this year.
He claimed he did not set it off but had picked it up off the ground in a moment of stupidity.
At Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Sheriff Susan Duff told him it is a serious offence and he had “endangered the lives” of people in the stand.
She said: “The use of pyrotechnics at football matches is a blight on the game and there is no place for it”.
The sheriff fined Hamilton £400 and made him subject to a football banning order for two years.
‘Stupidly picked up’ device
Hamilton, of Stormont Street in Perth, appeared in the dock to plead guilty to having a pyrotechnic device in his possession at East End Park.
It is a contravention of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022.
Prosecutor Amy Robertson told the court that around 3pm two police officers were positioned in the north-west stand of the stadium observing Dunfermline fans before kick off.
A number of pyrotechnic devices were set off at the start of the match and officers identified Hamilton “standing in the north-west stand holding a pyrotechnic device above his head”.
Ms Robertson said: “The device was emitting black smoke and officers made their way to the accused, who immediately dropped the article on the floor as they approached.
“Officers took the accused out of the stand to acquire details and said he stated he did not set it off but had stupidly picked it up off the floor.”
The fiscal said police described it as a “smoke flare pyrotechnic device”.
‘Out of character’
Defence lawyer Gino Gambale said first offender Hamilton, a ground worker, had attended the stadium with his family but went to a different stand, which he believed would have a better atmosphere.
The solicitor said: “He has not brought the device with him.
“He has seen a device on the ground, lifted it above his head and advises he held it for ten seconds.
“When police approached he realised it was a stupid thing to have done.
“He recognises he made a stupid mistake but he had not brought it to the game himself.
“He has not attended with any hooligans or anything like that, he attended with his family and went to a different stand”.
Mr Gambale said the incident is “entirely out of character”.
The lawyer had argued although there was a degree of disorder in the incident it is “very much the lower end”.
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