BNP candidate charged after clash

| Thursday, 20 May 2004 | Click here for original article

A BNP candidate standing in next month's local elections is one of 16 men charged in connection with violence after a football match.

A spokesman for the far-right party said Ian Clegg, who is hoping for a seat on Stoke-on-Trent City Council, was arrested on Thursday.

The trouble flared after Stoke City's match against West Ham on 24 April.

Staffordshire Police said officers came under attack as they tried to maintain order after the game.

The men were arrested during dawn raids in north Staffordshire and south Cheshire on Thursday morning.

All 16 will appear at Fenton magistrates on 25 and 26 May charged with violent disorder and public disorder offences.

A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said they expected to make several more arrests on Friday.

The men have been released on conditional bail, which forbids them from going to future games, including travelling to next month's Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal.

Simon Darby, regional spokesman for the BNP and also a councillor in the Black Country, told BBC News Online: "I can confirm he (Mr Clegg) has been arrested.

"He will be denying the charges put before him and has told me he has done nothing wrong. He says it is a case of police being heavy-handed.

"I don't think this will affect the vote in Stoke."

Mr Clegg, who is in his 40s and lives in the Meir Hay area of Stoke, is one of eight BNP candidates standing in the city's 20 wards.

He hopes to replace Tory councillor Margaret Pyatt in the 10 June election.

The party currently has two representatives on the council.