FIVE Celtic fans have been convicted in Amsterdam of attacking police officers in the build-up to a Champions League tie with Ajax this month.
Among the five convicted were Andy Vance, 21, from Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, and Padraig Mullan, 28, from Belfast, who have been detained in custody since the violent clashes, which broke out in Amsterdam on November 6, hours before the match.
They have each been sentenced to two months in prison, but are understood to be appealing the convictions. They have two weeks to lodge appeals.
All six accused, who are aged between 20 and 49, had denied the charges against them.
Two will spend six weeks in prison for throwing beer cans when rioting broke out in Dam Square, and the fifth was handed a one-month jail term.
A sixth man was acquitted and allowed to go after the judge concluded the police investigation had failed to gather enough evidence against him.
The five convicted will be released today and will serve their sentences at a later date.
The judge also awarded €250 (£208) in damages shared between three police officers, and €500 (£416) to a single officer.
Christian Visser, the lawyer representing the fans, told the court his clients had mistaken the police for football hooligans because they were dressed casually and did not show their police IDs to the suspects.
He asked the judge to dismiss the case on the grounds police had used "inadmissible violence, did not disclose full information and did not identify themselves" as police officers, adding they had taken pictures of the suspects on their private mobile phones and "made jokes about them".
He also accused the police of bungling the investigation by failing to file reports on the violence for 48 hours, by which time their version of events was likely to have been tainted by media coverage.
Mr Visser added that the police chief in charge of the case had given "false statements" to the media claiming that one of the suspects was drunk and had hit a police officer, breaching the legal presumption of innocence.
However, his plea to have the case dismissed was rejected by the judge, who also concluded the aggression used by police was "not excessive due to the chaos and circumstances".
The court heard that the day had started out peacefully, but riot police were called to separate Ajax and Celtic supporters after fights broke out. Officers decided to move the Celtic fans to Dam Square, where it is claimed the supporters began throwing bottles and beer cans at police.
One of the suspects said he was kicked by several people as he lay on the ground. Another said he had been kneed in the abdomen by police, while his girlfriend had also been hurt in the commotion. A third said he was hit in the body and then the head by police and that "Celtic fans were attacked from all directions".
Prosecutors said it was the police who were wounded in attacks by Celtic fans, and that they had to restrain supporters who were resisting arrest.
They added that some of the fans were so drunk they "did not even respond to the inflicting of pain".
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