Overview
- Benjamin Bailey, 27, admitted tailgating at Wembley at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on Friday and received a three-year football banning order and a £230 fine.
- Police said this is the first prosecution brought under the Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Act.
- Bailey was arrested at the March 22 Carabao Cup final between Manchester City and Arsenal after entering without a ticket by closely following a ticket holder through a turnstile.
- The new law makes tailgating a criminal offence and also outlaws using forged tickets or pretending to be stadium or playing staff, with penalties of up to five-year bans and £1,000 fines.
- Parliament introduced the law after Baroness Louise Casey’s review of the Euro 2020 final found about 2,000 ticketless people got in and identified 17 mass breaches that put fans at risk.