Stags fan took 'the mickey' by ignoring match ban for third time

Jack Keeling was spotted by officers in the Swan pub, 15 minutes before the Mansfield v Port Vale match kicked off at 3pm, on April 21.

He told officers he was aware of the order, which bans him from a defined area of the town for four hours before a match, but hadn’t realised Mansfield were playing at home, said prosecutor Daniel Pietryka.

“He then found out they were and decided to stay and have a drink,” Mr Pietryka said.

The court heard Keeling was originally banned from attending matches in 2015, after he ran on to the pitch, and was back before magistrates in September 2016 when he breached the order.

On January 4, this year, he was given a community order for breaching the order again and he received a new three year ban.

Mary Dixon, mitigating, said: “Almost all his convictions in here are related to the original banning order.

“Every time he comes back before the court the stakes go higher.

“I fear my mitigation is that he is young and foolish.”

Probation officer Sarah Alderton said Keeling knew Mansfield Town FC was playing, but chose to ignore the order.

She said the bricklayer socialised with friends on Fridays and Saturdays and drank alcohol heavily.

She said he was going to start working overtime on Saturday to prevent him from meeting his friends and drinking.

Keeling, 21, of Mayfield Terrace, Warsop, admitted failing to comply with a football banning order, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

Presiding magistrate JP Jennifer Wood told him: “I can even tell you when Mansfield Town are playing at home and I don’t follow football.

“I absolutely know that you will have been told on each occasion that a community order must be obeyed.”

She later added: “He is just taking the mickey out of us. He has got no regard for court orders at all.”

She told him: “You’re 21 years old. You can go out in the week. There’s no need to go and get bladdered. Behave yourself is the general rule.”

A six-month curfew on Fridays and Saturdays, from 7pm to 7am, was imposed, which will restrict his opportunities for socialising and cover the World Cup and the start of the new season.

He was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and an £85 government surcharge.