Soccer fans silent on dangerous flare
DateNovember 1, 2012 - 7:12AM
Jared Lynch
Dandenong Thunder supporters appear to be keeping mum about how a flare ended up hitting a 10-year-old girl in the face during the Victorian Premier League grand final, frustrating police.
The girl, who is lucky to have her sight, was watching the game between the Thunder and Oakleigh Cannons at AAMI Park on October 14 when the marine flare was fired about 50 metres from where she was sitting with her family.
Another girl, aged 12, suffered burns to her shoulder.
Police have appealed to Thunder supporters for information but are disappointed at the lack of information that has been provided, given it happened at a packed stadium.
"We believe members of the supporter base know who discharged the flare," Senior Detective Jens Bertelsen said. "It doesn't happen all that often and we know it's only a small group of offenders who have discharged the flare on this occasion.
"We would just like the Dandenong Thunder supporter base to identify these people to us through Crime Stoppers or through contacting us directly and identify these people so it doesn't happen again."
But according to the Facebook page of the Thunder, which is an Albanian-Australian backed club, others are responsible.
A supporter posted a newspaper clipping of the incident on October 24, which drew several responses fingering the blame at supporters from Oakleigh, which was founded by members of Australia's Greek community.
One supporter was blunt: "the greeks done it [sic] ... sore losers," he wrote.
Another followed with "wouldn't be surprised..." While a third wrote "burning a girls eye? sit down Det Jens Wanker!"
Another poster finished with "that's f---- man inshallah we don't cop anything."
Inspector Michael Beattie said the behaviour was unacceptable and dangerous.
“Soccer matches are a family event with all ages attending,” he said.
“People that discharge flares are not only putting themselves at risk but also every other person in the stadium.”
The flare was fired from a gun in AAMI Park's southern seating area. Senior Detective Bertelsen believed it was an irresponsible accident, with the flare fired by a Thunder supporter to celebrate a goal.
But the flare rebounded off a sign, hitting the girls.
"It's obviously a really dangerous thing to do, to discharge a flare like that. They burn really hot, they're hard to put out, the injuries could have been a great deal worse. It was only a few millimetres away from losing an eye," Senior Detective Bertelsen said on October 23.
"It's the kind of behaviour we want to discourage."
People with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit
www.crimestoppers.com.au.
Read more:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/soccer-fans-silent-on-dangerous-flare-20121101-28l4d.html#ixzz2AxUTA5Na