An Everton fan has been fined after he used a vile gesture to taunt Liverpool supporters over the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster where 39 people die.
Sion Owen, 23, has been ordered to pay £820 at Sefton Magistrates Court after he was spotted mocking Liverpool fans by making a pushing motion with his hands known as ‘The Wall.’
The incident occured while he was attending the Merseyside Derby on October 23 at Anfield. Owen was then arrested by Merseyside Police at half time for making the gesture.
Police said ‘The Wall’ is well known in football circles as ‘tragedy baiting’ and refers to when 39 football supporters were crushed to death following the collapse of a wall during the Liverpool and Juventus European Cup Final at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium.
Owen, an electrician who lives in Caenarfon, later claimed he knew nothing of the taunt saying the tragedy occurred so long ago it was not part of his ‘cultural reference.’ Instead, he claimed he was complaining about the Liverpool players ‘diving’ during tackles.
Sion Owen (pictured), 23, has been ordered to pay £820 at Sefton Magistrates Court after he was spotted mocking Liverpool fans by making a pushing motion with his hands known as ‘The Wall’ – a reference to the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster where 39 people die
Owen claims he didn’t know what the gesture was. Instead, he claimed he was complaining about the Liverpool players ‘diving’ during tackles
Juventus fans following the 1985 Heysel Stadium tragedy. Over 600 people were injured and 39 people died during the tragedy which occured on May 29 1985 during the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus in Belgium
However, he was found guilty of using threatening behaviour and was fined £300 and ordered to pay £520 in costs and a victim surcharge. He was spared a ban from all football stadiums.
The incident occurred after Everton defender Ashley Young was controversially sent off in the 37th minute of the game for his second booking after a foul on Liverpool’s Luis Díaz.
Prosecutor Tom Quirk said: ‘A number of Everton fans in the stadium were making pushing gestures towards the Liverpool fans. The officer describes this as being tragedy baiting, making reference to the Heysel Stadium football tragedy where fans were crushed by a wall.
‘The defendant was effectively making fun of what is a tragic moment in football history. The gesture is abusive.’
CCTV footage showed two Everton fans sat near Owen making aggressive pushing motions before Owen himself was seen pointing to the main stand on his right while shouting or singing. He then faced the pitch again and pushed his hands forwards four times before folding his arms.
The CCTV operator at the stadium witnessed the action and alerted police and Owen was arrested as he left his seat.
When questioned he acknowledged that he made a pushing motion but said that was to object to the Liverpool players falling without being touched or claiming that they had been pushed.
Mr Quirk added: ‘ It was put to him that it was a reference to the Heysel disaster. He said he was not aware of the wall. He said he was not even born at the time of the Heysel disaster. We say the defendant knew exactly what he was doing.’
Sefton Magistrates Court. District Judge James Clarke told Owen: ‘It was clear that you were not the instigator as there were persons there that you were inspired by or copied. But it was in the sight of other people, in the open, and in view of the rival fans. This gesture carries a particularly painful significance for Liverpool fans’ (stock image)
PC Rob Jones, operational football officer for Liverpool Football Club, said: ‘The gesture is very clear and unequivocal and is reference to the Heysel disaster of 29 May 1985. The ‘Wall’ gesture is well known in football circles implies that Liverpool fans were responsible for the disaster.
‘Unfortunately, it is well used to provoke Liverpool football fans. I have seen it hundreds of times, if not more. It was not just one of the worst tragedies in Liverpool Football Club’s history, but in football in general. The gesture is solely the preserve of Liverpool. That is not used anywhere else. It is clear and unequivocally a reference to the Heysel disaster.
‘The gesture is aimed at the fans of Liverpool Football Club directly opposite the Anfield Road End and I have no doubt whatsoever that he was referring to Heysel by enacting ‘The Wall.’ In my experience that has nothing to do with a diving gesture.
‘That gesture is not enacted in any matches that do not involve Liverpool. It has no relevance anywhere else. That gesture is not used anywhere other than at Liverpool matches.’
PC Rob Jones, operational football officer for Liverpool Football Club, said: ‘The gesture is very clear and unequivocal and is reference to the Heysel disaster of 29 May 1985. The ‘Wall’ gesture is well known in football circles implies that Liverpool fans were responsible for the disaster.
‘Unfortunately, it is well used to provoke Liverpool football fans. I have seen it hundreds of times, if not more. It was not just one of the worst tragedies in Liverpool Football Club’s history, but in football in general. The gesture is solely the preserve of Liverpool. That is not used anywhere else. It is clear and unequivocally a reference to the Heysel disaster.
‘The gesture is aimed at the fans of Liverpool Football Club directly opposite the Anfield Road End and I have no doubt whatsoever that he was referring to Heysel by enacting ‘The Wall.’ In my experience that has nothing to do with a diving gesture.
‘That gesture is not enacted in any matches that do not involve Liverpool. It has no relevance anywhere else. That gesture is not used anywhere other than at Liverpool matches.’
Giving evidence Owen, who had no previous convictions or cautions, said he arrived at 10.30am for a 12.30pm kick off, had two drinks at a local pub and one drink in the stadium.
He told the hearing: ‘The Liverpool players kept going down. They were getting a small nudge in the back and we’re going down too easily.
‘I was heated and the gesture was just towards the ref as the ref was giving the fouls. At half time, I went to go to the toilet and there were three or four police officers there and they just arrested me.
‘I was just shocked. and I did not know what to say.’
Owen claims the first he heard about ‘The Wall’ gesture was in the police station and claimed: ‘I had to have it explained to me, 1985 was a long time ago. Police said there would be no further action but two months later I got a letter in the post and I was shocked.’
Defence solicitor Sarah Gruffydd said: ‘His frustration was not with the fans, he is not looking at the fans, it is with the players and the referee as the players are going down without even being touched.
‘It is one-two-three pushing motion and then folding of his arms. It was not a long-standing action. Mr Owen is a young man with a previously unblemished record who has attended many football matches without incident. Football matches are animated. Spectators are doing various things with their hands.
‘The suggestion that this was aimed at the fans, when they would have been across the pitch is not tenable. He was looking at the pitch and the players. e is not a football hooligan. He is not someone who generally brings disorder to football matches. He has attended many matches and there has never been any trouble.
District Judge James Clarke said: ‘PC Jones has significant experience in the area and was satisfied that this was a gesture known as ‘The Wall,’ a recognised gesture which he has seen a number of times. It was a deliberate gesture referencing the tragic loss of life in Heysel Stadium in 1985.
‘It was clear that you were not the instigator as there were persons there that you were inspired by or copied. But it was in the sight of other people, in the open, and in view of the rival fans. This gesture carries a particularly painful significance for Liverpool fans.’
Liverpool won the match 2-0.