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01/02/02 - Ex-villain
fined for pitch invasion
by LISA MOORE
NEWS REPORTER
The Evening Telegraph
EX-GANGSTER Bernard O'Mahoney ended up in court after
he ran on to the pitch after Posh's FA Cup clash with
Newcastle. But the former villain, who admits to having
a chequered past as a partner in a vicious club security
firm, today said: "I am no football hooligan."
Speaking after being fined £75, plus £55
court costs, for his pitch invasion, O'Mahoney (41),
of South Street, Stanground, Peterborough, said: "I
accept my past deserves criticism, but my arrest last
Sunday is somewhat different.
"A football hooligan is something I might have
once been, but I certainly am not one now." He
said he was delighted to escape a ban from future games
- although the club today criticised magistrates for
passing such a lenient sentence.
Peterborough Magistrates' Court was told how O'Mahoney,
a Posh season ticket holder, left his front row seat
and ran on to the pitch after Posh lost 4-2 to Newcastle.
The ball was lying on the pitch and, in frustration
at Posh losing the match, O'Mahoney smacked a shot towards
one of the goals - but missed.
After returning to his seat, O'Mahoney was arrested
and cautioned by police, before being taken in for questioning.
He said: "I've been a season ticket holder for
the past three years, and Sunday was quite a big day.
"I'd been watching the match and I was, like everyone
else, just wishing the ball would go into the net. "When
Posh lost in the final minutes of the game, I was extremely
disappointed. "The match had ended, I saw the ball
lying on the pitch and I just ran over to it and, in
frustration, kicked the ball towards the goal, but missed."
O'Mahoney added: "I was not violent, or demented,
as a hooligan may have been." Philip Sagar, acting
managing director of Peterborough United, said: "Running
on to the pitch is not a clever thing to do at all.
"Fans are told not to do it, and I think this man
has got off lightly with a £75 fine. He could
have been banned from the ground. "I think it sends
the wrong message to fans. It should not be encouraged."
Pitch invasions have recently hit the headlines after
incidents at FA Cup ties between Cardiff and Leeds and
Aston Villa and Manchester United.
Firm supplied deadly ecstasy
BERNARD O'Mahoney, who moved to Stanground, Peterborough,
to start a new life, was once a partner in a vicious
club security firm, which allowed ecstasy tablets -
including the one which killed clubber Leah Betts in
1995 - to be peddled at an Essex nightclub.
He was also a key member of what was one of the most
feared criminal gangs of the last decade and a suspect
in the Essex Range Rover murders in 1995, in which three
of his friends were found shot dead.
O'Mahoney says the death of Leah Betts was a turning
point in his life, so he decided to write a book to
set the record straight. He has since written several
books, including Essex Boys and So This Is Ecstasy?
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| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
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