abuse of human rights

[dillo]

if your stood out side a football ground with a ticket in your pocket to get in and the police smell alcohol on your breath even though you are not singing swearing staggering or been abusive to anyone but are deemed to be Drunk how can you be charged with attempting to enter a football ground while Drunk when your not stood near the turnstile waiting to get int. does this mean then that if you leave a pub Drunk and you are stood near your car with your car keys in your pocket that you in tend to drive your car surely you have to be going through the turnstile or at least have entered the grund

[loonytunes]

Near your car with your keys still means you could be "in charge" depending on circumstances. If you have a ticket to enter a football ground, it must be assumed you intend to go in. It could even happen to people on a minibus going to game. A policeman can judge whether you are drunk. Moral - if you intend to go to football, don't drink first.

[fredpuli47]

The Act is The Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act, 1985. It provides that anyone "entering or trying to enter a designated sports ground", when drunk, commits an offence. The key word is 'trying' . It appears, from what you say, that you were 'trying to enter'. The fact that you had not yet presented your ticket or passed through the turnstile, or even pushed the turnstile, is irrelevant.

Lawyers here may cynically think that the choice of the word 'trying' ,rather than 'attempting', is deliberate, an effort to make the offence simpler to prove.

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