An evaluation of Section 1 of the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012
An Evaluation of the implementation and impact of section 1 of the Offensive Behaviour and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012
4. The impact of the legislation
4.1 The key challenge in measuring the impact of the Act is that the very fixtures associated with its introduction (namely the derby between Rangers and Celtic) ceased to occur after Rangers Football Club PLC went into liquidation, and the newly re-formed club joined the Scottish third division for the 2012-13 season. In the absence of these fixtures, any straightforward measurement of trends in football-related disorder or offensiveness becomes impossible. Though we review police statistics for football related offences in this chapter, our main way of assessing the impact of the Act was through our fan survey, and the perceptions of fans themselves in terms of changing levels of disorder and offensiveness.
The fan survey asked questions that were both season specific in terms of the prevalence of certain behaviours, first in the 2012/13 season and then in the 2013/14 season as well as questions about the prevalence of these behaviours compared to 'previous seasons'.
Prevalence of behaviours
4.2 Of the possible offensive behaviours that we asked about in the survey, by far the most prevalent witnessed by home and away supporters was swearing at players and officials (see table 4.1 below), witnessed by over 90% of supporters in the 2013/14 season. Apart from swearing, the most common 'specific verbal' behaviour experienced was hearing negative references to a person's religious background, heard by around one-third of both home (28%) and away supporters (35%) during at least one game in the 2013/14 season. This was more prevalent than hearing negative references to skin colour (8% of home supporters), country of origin (19%), gender (10%) or sexuality (19%).
4.3 The prevalence of these 'verbal' potentially offensive behaviours experienced by supporters was very stable between the 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons, including the more general 'verbal' behaviour of hearing songs that the supporters found offensive.
Table 4.1 Prevalence of types of behaviour witnessed by home supporters during 2013-14 season
| Proportion of games at which behaviour witnessed | All or almost all games % |
Some games, up to around half % |
No games % |
Bases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Types of behaviour | ||||
| Swearing at players / officials | 74 (-3) | 22 (+2) | 3 (-) | 2044 |
| Swearing at other supporters | 38 (+1) | 41 (+2) | 21 (-3) | 2020 |
| Negative references to a person's skin colour | 2 (+1) | 6 (-1) | 92 (-) | 2032 |
| Negative references to a person's religious background | 4 (+1) | 24 (-2) | 72 (+1) | 2030 |
| Negative references to a person's country of origin | 2 (-) | 17 (-1) | 81 (+1) | 2024 |
| Negative references to a person's gender | 1 (-) | 8 (-2) | 90 (+1) | 2024 |
| Negative references to a person's sexuality | 2 (N/A) | 17 (N/A) | 81 (N/A) | 2023 |
| Fighting with other supporters / police / stewards | 1 (-) | 24 (+2) | 75 (-3) | 2043 |
| Letting off flares | 1 (-) | 54 (+9) | 45 (-10) | 2053 |
| Throwing missiles | 1 (+1) | 24 (+4) | 75 (-5) | 2040 |
| Displaying banners that you found offensive | 2 (+1) | 21 (+3) | 76 (-5) | 2042 |
| Singing songs that you found offensive | 3 (-) | 39 (-) | 58 (-1) | 2043 |
N.B. Figures in brackets show percentage point change from 2013 survey
4.4 Supporters, particularly away supporters, experienced an increase in 'non-verbal' potentially offensive behaviours in 2013/14, compared to the previous season (see Table 4.2 below). These behaviours included fighting, letting off flares, throwing missiles and the displaying of offensive banners.
Table 4.2 Prevalence of types of behaviour witnessed by away supporters during 2013-14 season
| Proportion of games at which behaviour witnessed | All or almost all games % |
Some games, up to around half % |
No games % |
Bases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Types of behaviour | ||||
| Swearing at players / officials | 65 (-2) | 28 (+1) | 7 (-) | 1594 |
| Swearing at other supporters | 48 (+1) | 37 (+1) | 15 (-2) | 1586 |
| Negative references to a person's skin colour | 3 (+2) | 13 (-1) | 84 (-1) | 1574 |
| Negative references to a person's religious background | 7 (+2) | 28 (+1) | 65 (-3) | 1575 |
| Negative references to a person's country of origin | 5 (+2) | 20 (+1) | 76 (-3) | 1570 |
| Negative references to a person's gender | 2 (-) | 12 (-) | 86 (-) | 1562 |
| Negative references to a person's sexuality | 3 (N/A) | 19 (N/A) | 78 (N/A) | 1560 |
| Fighting with other supporters / police / stewards | 3 (+1) | 29 (+5) | 68 (-7) | 1587 |
| Letting off flares | 6 (+2) | 53 (+12) | 40 (-15) | 1596 |
| Throwing missiles | 3 (+2) | 27 (+6) | 70 (-8) | 1591 |
| Displaying banners that you found offensive | 4 (+3) | 24 (+3) | 72 (+6) | 1592 |
| Singing songs that you found offensive | 6 (+2) | 34 (-) | 59 (-3) | 1594 |
N.B. Figures in brackets show percentage point change from 2013 survey
4.5 The greater perceived prevalence of problematic behaviours (aside from swearing at officials and players) at away games is not surprising given our qualitative findings which consistently found evidence that fans found attending away games to be more unpredictable and intimidating.
You know it's more comfortable at your home ground cos you know the group round about you and the atmosphere round about, people can chip in and say things. But if you go an away match, you're not with the same group, maybe 1 or 2 friends [……] There was a chap next to me smoking, I had to say to the steward...So that was away from home. If it had been at home you're round your own group, you'd have had a lot of support saying 'hey, that's enough'. (Fan Focus group 6)
4.6 The lack of a distinct difference in reported prevalence between the 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons is not particularly surprising, in so far as we would anticipate that such a relatively 'blunt' set of measures would be able to register change over such a short period. However, when we asked fans to compare current behaviours with a more sweeping assessment of 'previous seasons' some distinct trends emerged.
4.7 In both the 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons, a larger proportion of supporters (home and away) felt that all of the measured behaviours (with the exception of letting off flares) were less common than in previous seasons, compared to the proportion who thought they were more prevalent. For example, 40% of home supporters felt that negative references to religious background were less common in 2013/14 than in previous seasons, compared with only 3% who thought that this behaviour had increased. In 2014, over half of supporters felt that the prevalence of all these behaviours (apart from letting off flares) was at about the same level as in previous seasons.
Table 4.3 Prevalence of types of behaviour witnessed by home supporters during 2013-14 season compared to previous seasons
| Prevalence of behaviour compared to previous seasons | More common % |
Less common % |
About the same % |
Bases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Types of behaviour | ||||
| Swearing at players / officials | 7 (-) | 12 (-1) | 81 (+1) | 2009 |
| Swearing at other supporters | 5 (+1) | 19 (-3) | 76 (+2) | 1956 |
| Negative references to a person's skin colour | 2 (+1) | 39 (-1) | 59 (-1) | 1804 |
| Negative references to a person's religious background | 3 (+1) | 40 (-1) | 56 (-1) | 1851 |
| Negative references to a person's country of origin | 2 (+1) | 38 (+1) | 60 (-2) | 1822 |
| Negative references to a person's gender | 2 (+1) | 35 (+2) | 63 (-3) | 1792 |
| Negative references to a person's sexuality | 2 (N/A) | 36 (N/A) | 62 (N/A) | 1798 |
| Fighting with other supporters / police / stewards | 7 (+2) | 36 (-) | 57 (-2) | 1875 |
| Letting off flares | 32 (+2) | 21 (-3) | 47 (-3) | 1905 |
| Throwing missiles | 5 (+1) | 34 (-) | 61 (-1) | 1855 |
| Displaying banners that you found offensive | 6 (+1) | 30 (-2) | 63 (-1) | 1868 |
| Singing songs that you found offensive | 8 (+2) | 32 (-2) | 60 (-) | 1894 |
N.B. Figures in brackets show percentage point change from 2013 survey
Table 4.4 Prevalence of types of behaviour witnessed by away supporters during 2013-14 season compared to previous seasons
| Prevalence of behaviour compared to previous seasons | More common % |
Less common % |
About the same % |
Bases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Types of behaviour | ||||
| Swearing at players / officials | 8 (+3) | 8 (-2) | 83 (-2) | 1520 |
| Swearing at other supporters | 8 (+3) | 11 (-3) | 81 (-) | 1513 |
| Negative references to a person's skin colour | 2 (+1) | 32 (-) | 66 (-1) | 1402 |
| Negative references to a person's religious background | 6 (+3) | 30 (-1) | 64 (-2) | 1426 |
| Negative references to a person's country of origin | 4 (+3) | 30 (-) | 67 (-1) | 1414 |
| Negative references to a person's gender | 2 (+1) | 29 (+1) | 69 (-2) | 1390 |
| Negative references to a person's sexuality | 2 (N/A) | 29 (N/A) | 69 (N/A) | 1394 |
| Fighting with other supporters / police / stewards | 7 (+2) | 28 (-1) | 65 (-2) | 1460 |
| Letting off flares | 32 (+5) | 17 (-1) | 50 (-6) | 1464 |
| Throwing missiles | 7 (+3) | 28 (-) | 65 (-2) | 1439 |
| Displaying banners that you found offensive | 8 (+3) | 25 (-1) | 67 (-2) | 1437 |
| Singing songs that you found offensive | 10 (+4) | 24 (-3) | 67 (-) | 1456 |
N.B. Figures in brackets show percentage point change from 2013 survey
4.8 These positive assessments of change were stronger for home games attended than away games. Again our qualitative research with fans and officials alike supported these accounts of positive change. Even in focus groups where fans were adamantly opposed to the legislation, participants acknowledged that they had stopped behaving in ways that could lead to a charge under the Act (Fan Focus Groups 1, 3 & 4). Fans were highly wary of the risks of acquiring a criminal record for one moment of imprudent behaviour, although the sanction that some fans most readily feared was not a criminal sentence per se, but the football banning order that might accompany it.
a banning order hits home. If I got banned for football for three months, I'd be devastated, I wouldn't know what to do with my time. Because your whole kind of social aspect of your weekend revolves around football. [….] I think the banning orders are definitely the way forward, I would combine them with a social education of some sort. (Fan Focus Group 6)
4.9 Other fans, whilst acknowledging that there was less offensive behaviour, felt that many of these improvements actually pre-dated the Act (Fan Focus group 6).
4.10 These perceptions of positive change may partially account for an observed drop in charges made under the Act over time, with charges dropping from 268 in 2012/13 to 203 in 2013/14, with the biggest drop being those charges associated with offensive behaviour directed towards another person's religion (down from 40% of all charges under the Act in 2012/13 to 30% of all charges in 2013/14) (Skivington and Mckenna, 2014, p. 7). Even when we add the charges made under section 74 of the Criminal Justice Scotland Act 2003, the legislation most commonly used for such behaviour before the advent of the Act, there is still an observable decline in charges over this period (Mckenna and Skivington, 2014, p. 6).
Table 4.5 Home supporters hearing negative reference to religious background by club supported
| Proportion of games where home supporters heard negative reference to religious background | All or almost all games % |
Some games, up to around half % |
No games % |
Bases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club support | ||||
| Celtic | 13 (+6) | 30 (+3) | 56 (-10) | 378 |
| Rangers | 11 (+1) | 31 (-7) | 58 (+5) | 229 |
| Other club | 1 (-1) | 21 (-4) | 78 (+4) | 1423 |
| All clubs | 4 (+1) | 24 (-2) | 72 (+1) | 2030 |
| Base | 2030 | |||
N.B. Figures in brackets show percentage point change from 2013 survey
Table 4.6 Prevalence of negative reference to religious background witnessed by home supporters during 2013-14 season compared to previous seasons by club supported
| Prevalence of negative reference to religious background compared to previous seasons | More common % |
Less common % |
About the same % |
Bases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club support | ||||
| Celtic | 8 (+5) | 40 (-11) | 52 (+6) | 349 |
| Rangers | 3 (-) | 50 (-7) | 46 (+6) | 207 |
| Other clubs | 2 (-) | 40 (+3) | 59 (-3) | 1295 |
| All clubs | 3 (+1) | 40 (-1) | 56 (-1) | 1851 |
| Base | 1851 | |||
N.B. Figures in brackets show percentage point change from 2013 survey
4.11 Given the focus of enforcement of the Act to date on behaviour particularly associated with Rangers and Celtic supporters, Table 4.5 and Table 4.6 look specifically at the perceptions of these supporters. Here, home supporters of both Rangers and Celtic were somewhat more likely to hear negative reference to religion in 2013/14, than supporters of other clubs, on average (see Table 4.5). However, large proportions of home supporters of both clubs, Rangers (50%); Celtic (40%), felt that this type of behaviour was less common than in previous seasons. This perception of improvement was occasionally (and somewhat grudgingly) acknowledged by fans of other teams.
So I suppose it has improved slightly because there's less access for the XXX fans in particular to behave the way they used to do. But the general attitude, there's still a very strong element of looking after yourself when you go to XXX (Fan Focus group 6)
4.12 Official respondents though, were less guarded in recognising positive changes:
When we first started [….] it was almost like there was a song timetable and you knew at six minutes this tune was going to tune up, just before half time you were going to get this song, and after half time you would get some other thing. And...you just don't get that now. (Football Intelligence Officer)
A big improvement, personally. No longer are they coming up en masse and singing their songs. That's a real boon for us as well. (Senior Police Officer)
Having to listen and say 'did you hear a peal of XXXX, I think I heard a bit of it.' Whereas you normally you have a full.. you have the whole lot of them singing it, now you get a few and it gets stopped. (Senior Police Officer)
4.13 Our own, albeit limited, observational work as part of this study, also found limited evidence of offensive singing at both Ibrox and Celtic Park. COPFS data provides further tentative support, with charges associated with matches at these two venues falling from 73 charges in 2012/13 to 40 charges in 2013/14.
4.14 However, although there were clear indications of improvements in fan behaviour, there were also accounts in our qualitative data of various forms of negative adaptation to the risks and controls presented by the Act. This ranged from some members of 'ultra' groups turning to other forms of disorderly behaviours such as letting off flares, fighting, and damaging stadia seating (Football Intelligence Officers X4) to some individuals continuing to make offensive remarks but taking steps to avoid detection (Senior Police Officer, Football Intelligence Officer).
They are aware now it's criminal, but they still sing it, but they sing under banners etc. Even in away games they will sing it, and they will sing it in pubs. (Football Intelligence Officer)
4.15 Again, our observational fieldwork and interviews with stakeholders around stadia provided some tentative evidence that offensive behaviour was to be readily found outwith the stadia on match days, whilst 'saving' behaviour that might be deemed as offensive for what fans judged as 'low risk' (as in low risk of effective enforcement) away games was also seen as a common form of adaptation.
4.16 Conversely however, there were also indications of more positive changes in fan behaviour, in particular an increase in self-policing, at some clubs, by fans. This had been evident before the Act on occasions when clubs qualified for European games, and many fans reacted with disapproval to behaviour or displays that risked getting their team fined or sanctioned in some other way by UEFA (Football Intelligence Officer) but there were also indications of greater levels of self-policing in the domestic game generally (Fan Focus Group 1, 4 & 6, Fan interviewee) though whether this is attributable in any way to the Act is difficult to determine.
Official data on football-related offending
4.17 Aside from the perception of fans themselves about changes in standards of behaviour in and around football fixtures, the other sources of data that might provide some indication of the impact of the Act, include police, crime survey and Crown Office data.
4.18 Prior research by the Scottish Government (Cavanagh 2011) had shown that there was some association between football fixtures, in particular fixtures between Rangers and Celtic, and spikes in various forms of criminality and anti-social behaviour. Notably anti-social behaviour (typically captured before the Act in the offence of 'breach of the peace'), violent crime, and incidents of domestic abuse were all associated with these events. Such spikes did not necessarily testify to any unique relationship however between football and crime as the Government's analyses also demonstrated that other public holidays and large crowd events (which all might in turn be commonly associated with the consumption of alcohol) were also associated with notable spikes in similar types of criminality.
4.19 There are also a number of methodological issues with trying to measure post-Act changes in levels of violence and disorder at, and around, football. Principally, shortly after the introduction of the Act, the reconstitution and relegation of Rangers FC removed from the football fixture the key clash that was associated with spikes in crime and disorder. Whilst the two clubs' meeting in February 2015 may have provided some reminder of the crime and disorder issues involved, changes in predispositions towards violence and disorder can hardly be gauged from one fixture.
4.20 A brief examination of police statistics and survey estimates from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey show that broader crime trends make it extremely difficult to make judgements about the impact of the Act. Both police recorded, and crime surveys figures show sustained falls in most of the relevant crime categories, both before, and after, the introduction of the Act:
- Between 2008/09 to 2012/13 violent crime, as measured by the Scottish Crime and Justice survey fell, by approximately 25% whilst within that category, assaults fell by 24% (Scottish Government 2014b, p.16).
- Falls in police recorded violent crime were even greater. In particular in the sub-category of non-sexual violent crime, by 2013-14 incidents had reached its' lowest level since 1974 (Scottish Government 2014c, p. 21) falling by approximately 27% between 2008/9 and 2012/13 alone (Scottish Government 2014c, table 5, p. 59).
- Similarly, recorded incidents of breach of the peace fell by 24% over the same period, even though this headline offence category included the new offences charged under the Act after 2012. The decline in the offence category however predominantly occurred before the introduction of the Act (Scottish Government 2014c, table 6, p. 61)
- Glasgow, whilst retaining the dubious distinction of being the most violent city in Scotland, nevertheless shared in the falls in incidents during these periods, with non-sexual crimes of violence falling by over 50% between 2008/09 and 2013/14 (Scottish Government 2009, Table 6, p. 25 and Scottish Government 2014c, table 6, p. 61)
4.21 Thus any judgement of the impact of the Act has to be made against the backdrop of sustained and historic falls in violent crime not only in Scotland, but across the UK as a whole (Office for National Statistics, 2014). Some insight may be gained from additional questions added to the 2012/13 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey which looked more closely at the sorts of harassment, intimidation and insult that might be seen by many as a key target of the Act. 10% of respondents in the survey reported being insulted, pestered or intimidated in some way in the previous months, though for the large majority (over 80%) this did not extend beyond verbal insult or harassment (Scottish Government 2014b, p. 68). However, when the survey probed victims to see what they thought lay behind the offenders' behaviour (such as an intention to insult the victim on the basis of their race or ethnicity), only a quarter of respondents provided a possible motive. Of this sub-set, some 8% felt the intimidation or harassment was motivated by issues of ethnicity and race, whilst 4% of men, and 1% of female respondents who had been victimised identified sectarianism as a possible motivating factor. Given this very low level of prevalence of victim-identified sectarian harassment or intimidation, it is unsurprising that only 3% of survey respondents as a whole reported being 'worried' or 'very worried' about being 'insulted, pestered or intimidated due to sectarianism' (ibid p. 68) compared to 25% of the sample being worried about being assaulted or attacked in the street, or 19% of the sample being worried about being caught up in violence between groups (e.g. gangs). (ibid, p. 62).
4.22 Though the Act is not focused on domestic abuse, a number of respondents during this research speculated that incidents of domestic violence might increase as supporters - frustrated by controls on their behaviour in stadia - would take out their frustration on their partners and spouses. Such assertions would be hard to evidence. Whilst research has shown associations between football and domestic violence (Brooks et al, 2014), these associations cannot be shown to demonstrate a direct, causal relationship (as opposed to football and domestic violence sharing some common features, such as attracting certain types of problematic men, being associated with leisure time and public holidays, and being associated with the consumption of alcohol). Moreover, again, here too, Scottish Crime survey figures[67] show, an albeit very modest, fall in self-reported domestic violence (between partners), with incidents of psychological and physical abuse declining from 5% of respondents in 2008/09 to 3% in 2012/13 (MacQueen, 2014, p. 11).
4.23 The most targeted approach to trying to measure the impact of the Act would be to look at levels of arrest or charge in and around stadia on match days. Such an approach though would have some fundamental limitations. Aside from the aforementioned changes in the composition of Scottish leagues, and associated changes in fixtures and rivalries, levels of arrest and charge in and around stadia may be said to be particularly prone to changes in policing, and changes in decision making around charging. These are of course, precisely areas that have been subject to significant and deliberate change, not merely as a result of the introduction of the Act, but also associated developments such as the establishment of FoCUS, and largely coincidental developments such as the establishment of Police Scotland. Changes in levels of arrest and charge might therefore be said to be as likely to reflect these changes in policing and criminal justice decision making as any 'natural' change in the propensity of individuals to commit offences in and around football. With these substantial caveats in mind there are three readily available sources of data on trends in football related offending. First, there are police recorded crime statistics, which chart the number of incidents at, or around football. Incidents, it should be noted, are not the same as charges, as a single incident might involve a number of individuals charged with a number of different offences.
Table 4.7 Breach of the peace and s. 1 and s. 6 OBFTC Act offences, 2004-05 to 2013-14 (recorded crime incidents)1
| Crime category | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breach of the peace2 | 87,403 | 58,432 | 33,710 | 25,072 | 21,755 |
| % change on previous year | -33% | -42% | -26% | -13% | |
| Offensive behaviour at football 3 | - | - | [22] | 154 | 126 |
| % change on previous year | -18% | ||||
| Threatening communications3 | - | - | [1] | 41 | 11 |
| % change on previous year | -73% |
Notes:
1. Taken from Scottish Government 2014c, Table A8, p. 74
2. This is a sub-category of the larger offence category of 'breach of the peace' which normally incorporates section 1 charges.
3. Offences introduced in March 2012
4.24 Table 4.7 shows a reasonable decline in section 1 charges between 2012-13 (the first full year of the Act's use) and 2013-14. However, first, two years' of data does not give us a sufficient period to make any judgements about trends; second, any reduction must be viewed in the context of much larger reductions in breach of the peace that occur both concurrently with, but also long before, the introduction of the Act. Finally, the figures provide some pause for thought in appreciating, in particular relative to the attention paid to the Act, how few incidents there are actually recorded under section 1.
4.25 An alternative snapshot of football-related offending can be found in looking again at figures compiled by the football banning order authority (now located alongside FoCUS). These figures cover s.1 offences but also breach of the peace (s. 38), or culpable and reckless conduct (typically flares or smoke bombs covered under s. 20 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995), or any other type of offence that was linked to a football match[68]. It should be noted however that the figures do not incorporate offences that might be more 'distantly' linked (e.g. an incidence of domestic violence at a residential property). Nevertheless, whilst like all the figures reported here, these figures are far from perfect, they perhaps better attempt to capture than others the 'footprint' of crime and disorder associated with football matches.
Table 4.8 Offences Reported to the Football Banning Authority
| Football seasons | All offences | % change |
|---|---|---|
| 2011-12 | 428 | |
| 2012-13 | 355 | -17% |
| 2013-14 | 323 | -9% |
| 2014-15 | 323¹ | n/c |
Notes:
1. Annual figure up to February 2015 is 246 - the total for the remainder of the relevant year is estimated using the typical proportion of annual offences occurring in the remaining period between 2011-12 and 2013-14.
4.26 Though direct comparison with Table 4.7 is difficult due to different reporting periods these figures do nevertheless evidence similar trends, with fairly substantial declines in charges in the first two years of the Act, though with a possible 'levelling out' in the most recent football season.
4.27 One final data source that provides some broad indications of trends in football related offending is data complied on section 1 charges by the Crown Office. These statistics were reported on in detail in Skivington & Mckenna (2014):
Table 4.9 Section 1 Charges 2012/13 to 2013/14
(adapted from table 6 in Skivington & Mckenna, 2014, p. 7)
| 2012/13 | 2013/14 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total number of charges | 268 | 203 |
| % change | -24% | |
| Number of Rangers/Celtic charges1 | 153 | 103 |
| % of all charges | 57% | 51% |
| Section 1 charge sub-categories2 | ||
| Total number of sub-charges | 290 | 234 |
| of which 'religion' | 106 (37%) | 60 (26%) |
| of which 'support for a terrorist organisation or celebrating loss of life' | 46 (16%) | 57 (24%) |
| of which 'race/ethnicity' | 19 (6%) | 17 (7%) |
| of which 'sexual orientation' | 0 | 1 (<1%) |
| of which making threats/challenging other to fight | 119 (41%) | 99 42% |
Notes:
1. Club-affiliation of individuals charged with offences
2. Some charges involved multiple sub-charges, so sub-charge totals are not the same as charge totals
4.28 Again, these statistics evidence a similar decline in charges during the first and second full years of the Act's operation. The figures also detail how supporters of Rangers and Celtic continue to attract the majority of s. 1 charges, though at a slightly lower rate in 2013/14 than in the previous year. Crown Office figures also allow us to examine the changing characteristics of charges in terms of which elements of s.1 they relate to. Whilst offensive behaviour offences under s. 1 remain the main type of charge in both years, there are some notable changes in the types of crime that predominate. Notably, s. 1 was hardly used in either year to tackle offensive behaviour offences targeted at someone's sexual orientation, and was only used sparingly to target race-related offences. In contrast, the proportion of charges relating to showing support for a terrorist organisation or celebrating loss of life rose markedly between the first and second year of the Act's operation.
The limited use of s.1 to tackle homophobic or race-related offensiveness seems surprising given that, whilst not as prominent in the experiences of supporters in our survey or focus groups as religious offensiveness, these were forms of offensiveness that nevertheless attracted particular opprobrium, and indeed in our 2013-14 survey were experienced fairly frequently (see table 4.2, page 57). For instance, 22% of survey respondents witnessed negative references to sexuality when attending away games in the 2013/14 season, but only one conviction was recorded for offensive behaviour based on sexual orientation in that period.
4.29 In summary, what can these various sources of data tell us about trends in football related crime and disorder, and more specifically about the impact of the Act? There have been significant declines in officially-designated football-related offences though the available data covers far too short a span of time to allow one to reliably associate any trends with the introduction of the Act, or indeed the associated attention and resources given to the policing of football-related offences both in the year running up the introduction of the Act (2011-2012), and in the immediate aftermath of its introduction. Whilst football-related offences have declined, there are two key competing explanations for this decline, both of which are plausible, and both of which may have partially contributed to the observed declines:
- The drop in charges reflects a genuine decline in disorder and offensive behaviour.
- The initial peak of charges in the first full year of the Act naturally dropped off after the initial wave of publicity, and the keen attention given to implementing the Act by the Police and other relevant partners, subsided.
4.30 Our survey findings provide tentative support for the notion that at least some of these reductions may be due to a real improvement in offensive and disorderly behaviour on match days. However the extent to which these reductions can be attributed to the impact of the Act is far from clear, not least given the substantial and sustained reductions in many categories of violence and disorder across Scotland and the UK as whole.
Contact
Email: Ben Cavanagh
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