Football fans lose appeal over 'beach beating' of Mexicans

Photo: policja.pl

However, two other defendants who admitted guilt at the beginning of the trial had their original January sentences reduced from 22 months to 18 months.

The seven defendants, all fans of the Ruch Chorzow team, had travelled to the Baltic city for a match against local side Arka Gdynia, but violence broke out on a beach with Mexican sailors prior to the match.

“Dozens of people witnessed the incident at close hand, and their evidence clearly shows that the aggressors were the accused,” Judge Dagmara Daraszkiewicz affirmed on Tuesday.

The defendants had argued that the incident should have been classed as a fight, and that the court had been selective in its handling of the evidence.

They also claimed that widespread media coverage of the violence last summer had influenced the court's initial decision. Bearing this in mind, they called for lighter sentences or full acquittals.

However, Judge Daraszkiewicz said that the media coverage had had “no effect” on the case.

“The accused brutally attacked the victims, kicking the prostated [sailors] all over their bodies, including in the head.

"This happened on the beach in broad daylight, without any concern for the presence of other people, including children," Judge Daraszkiewicz said.

Four of the defendants will serve 22 months behind bars, while a fifth, who had a previous conviction, will serve 26 months.(nh)

Source: PAP/Gazeta Wyborcza