Eight men are in court charged with violent disorder after trouble erupted outside Villa Park ahead of a match against Legia Warsaw
Top row (L-R): Doran Urbaniak, Marchin Staniec, Jaroslaw Gredka, Karol Talkowski and Adrian Mitura.
Bottom row (L-R): Grezegosz Grabon, Mariusz Palka and Bartlomiej Szmytke(Image: Nick Wilkinson/BirminghamLive )
Eight men have appeared in court charged with violent disorder after trouble broke out before an Aston Villa-Legia Warsaw game.
The charges relate to violence which broke out before a Europa Conference League match between the two sides on November 30, 2023.
A number of police officers, police dogs and horses were said to have been injured during the incident outside Villa Park.
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Legia supporters Marchin Staniec, Doran Urbaniak, Bartlomiej Szmytke, Grezegosz Grabon, Mariusz Palka, Jaroslaw Gredka, Adrian Mitura and Karol Talkowski all appeared in court today, June 29, charged with violent disorder. They deny the charges.
A jury made up of 12 people will be selected for the Birmingham Crown Court trial – which is expected to last up to four weeks – tomorrow morning (June 30).
The defendants were told that, under their bail conditions, they’re permitted to travel, including back to their home country of Poland, but that they must attend every day of the trial.
Addressing the defendants, His Honour Judge Dean Kershaw said: “If you want to go back at the weekend, if you don’t live in the UK, I won’t be changing your bail conditions.
“Take the risk if you want. If they don’t come back, I’ll just carry on without them. [It] wouldn’t help them.”
Speaking about the charges, he added: “No one is disputing there was a disorder. It’s whether you took part in it.
“This is a three-week trial, really. But it could take four weeks.”
The court heard how all eight defendants will require an interpreter throughout the trial.
Mr Kershaw said 12 jurors will be selected from a pool of 17 tomorrow after one woman in the group was dismissed after alerting the court that she knew one of the police officers involved in the case.
The 17 remaining were each given a questionnaire to fill out overnight.
“One of the questions asks if anyone has a link to either of the clubs,” said Mr Kershaw.
“If you were a staunch supporter of a particular club, you might face me asking you some questions about it.
“For example, do you have an association with the ground itself? Does a family member work there?”
The trial is expected to get underway at 12pm tomorrow.