Football hooligan jailed for plotting violence in Dagenham
A football hooligan who organised a clash between Millwall and West Ham fans on the day of a Daggers match was jailed for 12 months.
Shaun Sheridan, a member of West Ham’s notorious ‘Inter City Firm’, plotted mass violence in a series of text messages to his rivals.
Sheridan, 43, targeted the third round tie match between Dagenham and Redbridge and Millwall on January 7 last year in the belief that there would be fewer police.
But his plan was thwarted after officers turned out in force armed with camcorders to film them gathering at a the Eastbrook Pub.
Sheridan, who was sentenced on Friday at the Old Bailey, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit violent disorder last month.
Judge Anthony Morris QC told him: “This case is about organised football hooliganism.
“Organised football hooliganism is about taking pride in that violence. It is also about the subverting of public order.”
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Sheridan originally stood trial alongside the former owner of Grays Athletic Andy Swallow, 53, Shane Flexon, 26, and Millwall fan Aidan Andrews, 41.
Swallow, Andrews and Flexon were cleared of conspiracy to commit violent disorder after the case collapsed.
Flexon admitted using threatening and abusive words or behaviour on the day of the match and was sentenced to a 12 month community order with 120 hours’ unpaid work.
The Inter City Firm became notorious for hooliganism in the 70s and 80s.
Swallow, of Biscayne Avenue, Blackwall, Flexon, of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, Andrews of St James Square, Bermondsey and Sheridan of Longfield Estate, Bermondsey, had all denied conspiring to commit violent disorder.
Both Sheridan and Flexon were handed football banning orders. Sheridan is prohibited from going within a mile of any match featuring West Ham and Millwall for seven years, while Flexon is banned for five years.
