Academic and Celtic supporter Jeanette Findlay has strongly criticised Police Scotland over their handling of the Green Brigade at the Glasgow Derby, arguing that their actions were unlawful and discriminatory.
Appearing on Graham Spiers’ Press Box podcast, Findlay dissected the controversial policing operation that led to hundreds of Celtic fans being kettled, searched, and ultimately denied access to the match.
They were held for five hours with no access to food, water or toilets.
Findlay pointed out that Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994—which police cited as justification for their containment tactics—was misused in this situation.
“If we take a step back a bit, the Section 60 cannot be used in that way,” she said. “There were a number of significant problems with how they tried to operate that.”
“For instance, they have to have a reasonable suspicion that somebody has something, like a weapon or something that would be unlawful to have. You have to have a reasonable suspicion. It cannot be based on how someone is dressed or whether they are part of a group of people who dress in a particular way, or even on whether they’ve ever been convicted of anything. The legislation does not allow police to do that. But nevertheless, that’s what they did.”
Findlay also raised concerns about improper searches and the treatment of foreign fans.
“They took items from them and didn’t issue them with proper receipts. For the stop and search element, they are actually obliged to issue a receipt for that.”
She went on to highlight the case of three French nationals who were detained and taken to London Road police station simply for not carrying ID.
“Now, you don’t need to have ID in this country, and they weren’t letting people out if they didn’t have ID. The three French nationals were then detained and taken to London Road police station, which strikes me as discrimination on grounds of nationality.”
Findlay also challenged the police’s justification for detaining the Celtic fans, stating that the claims made about face coverings were false.
“They also gave information that was false. They said things like ‘because their faces were covered,’ but the people in that cordon’s faces were not covered.”
In contrast, she pointed out that video evidence exists of police escorting Rangers fans into the stadium while wearing full face coverings.
“I’m not making this a Celtic-Rangers thing, but the police are videoed taking Rangers fans who are fully masked up into the ground. If the reason for detaining the Celtic fans was because they were masked—when the evidence says they were not—then they are telling lies.
“Their reason for doing this is sheer and utter vindictiveness, and it’s exactly the same as the way they behaved during the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act.”
Police Scotland are facing continued scrutiny over the events of Sunday’s derby.
Celtic have already distanced themselves from the policing operation, and calls for an official investigation into police tactics are growing.
For now, the fallout continues, with many demanding accountability for what they see as an unjust and heavy-handed approach to Celtic supporters.
