Football fan fined £800 for throwing flare

Throwing a flare onto the hallowed turf at the Notts County ground cost a Grimsby supporter £800 - and a three-year football ban. Lewis Flint, 28, of Pine Close, Great Coates, Grimsby, pleaded guilty to throwing a flare onto the pitch.

The game saw Notts County suffer a third consecutive loss in the play-offs with an extra-time defeat against Grimsby on May 23 this year. Nottingham Magistrates' Court heard officers were policing the Meadow Lane clash.

At 9.45pm they were alerted a flare had been thrown onto the pitch from the visitor stand by an away supporter. A steward pointed to Flint, confirming he had thrown the flare from the stand onto the pitch.

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Officers spoke with him and asked him to accompany them onto the concourse where he was arrested, the court heard. Flint already has two criminal offences on his record for battery, which were punished with a 12-month conditional discharge on September 10, 2019.

Lottie Tyler, prosecuting, applied for a football banning order and for prosecution costs of £85, and both were granted with the banning order to last for three years. Flint, representing himself, was asked if he wished to address magistrates.

He replied: "No, pretty much that's what happened. I threw it".

He was fined £650 and must pay a victim surcharge of £65. With the prosecution costs order, the total amount to pay is £800.