Bolton v Bradford City: Police ‘used horses as weapons’

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) revealed that the Force is assessing a complaint made in relation to the weekend’s policing.

One horrified mum said how her tearful daughter was nearly knocked to the floor when a mounted police officer rode his horse into the crowds.

The Bantams lost 1-0 at Bolton Wanderers in the first leg of their EFL League One play-off semi-final on Saturday, with the game kicking off at 8pm.

Just over 2,000 supporters travelled across the Pennines for the weekend’s fixture and tempers flared as fans emerged from Bolton’s Toughsheet Community Stadium after the game, at about 10pm.

Chaos at the Bolton Wanderers v Bradford City play-off match at the weekend (Image: UGC)

GMP, who have jurisdiction in Bolton, said at the weekend that a 51-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of affray and a 46-year-old man was detained on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.

A number of fans have since reached out to The Bolton News sister paper Telegraph & Argus and raised concerns about the policing of the match.

Declan Holmes, a lifelong Bantams supporter, attended the game and claims “police caused all the problems on Saturday night”.

He said: “They were using their horses as weapons and abusing every ounce of authority they had.”

Claire Hickey, a 42-year-old school teacher from Eccleshill, took her 11-year-old daughter Scarlett to the match, as she does for every Bradford City game.

She claimed even before the crunch tie mounted police were “reckless in their actions, riding into oncoming traffic and screaming at traffic when they were the ones who were clearly not in control of their animals.”

Police allegedly used horses as “weapons” to separate Bolton Wanderers and Bradford City supporters after their play-off match at the weekend (Image: UGC)

This came to a head when video footage seemingly showed one officer on horseback stepping on another officer who was either detaining or tending to somebody lying on the ground.

It drew gasps from those who were watching nearby, with one fan remarking, “they’re knocking each other out now”.

GMP revealed today that an officer was seriously injured on the night after being kicked in the head by someone while making an arrest.

Both Declan and Claire raised a lack of segregation as the two sets of fans left the ground as a major issue.

Declan said: “No segregation after the game, just let all the fans mix, then decided to jump in with their horses to split up instead of creating a segregation from the off.”

Claire said all fans were “mixed together” and “for the most part, there were no problems” until police got involved.

She added: “I have brought my children up to have the utmost respect for the police force and for the job they do, but last night I think that all went out the window when one male on horseback nearly knocked my daughter to the floor.”

Claire claimed mounted officers rode horses into the fans to try to separate them.

Police allegedly used horses as “weapons” to separate Bolton Wanderers and Bradford City supporters after their play-off match at the weekend (Image: Declan Holmes)

She said: “One gentleman, an older gentleman, on his own, told the policeman to stop treating his horse like a weapon, he was not abusive nor threatening in his comment or manner, but the police man took offence and drove his horse into him knocking my daughter sideways and frightening her to tears in the process.”

At the coach park, Claire saw a supporter who was fighting and then tackled by the police.

She said he was thrown to the floor and then five other police officers got involved physically, which she said “was completely unnecessary and obviously riled those around.”

Claire added: “While I am not saying that the Bradford City fans were without fault, they were definitely not the raging hooligans they were made out to be.”

A spokesperson for GMP said: “Officers working at the Bolton Wanderers vs Bradford City match at the weekend arrested two people following an altercation outside the ground.

“One man was arrested on suspicion of affray and another was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.

“An officer received a serious injury during the incident.

“For all sporting events, we implement a comprehensive policing service to ensure the safety of those in attendance.

“This includes specialist resources from within different teams across the force, and extensive planning alongside our partners.

“These extra teams and units are utilised where necessary to support operations and provide a further layer of security for the public.

“We are in receipt of a complaint with regards to the weekend, and this will be assessed appropriately in the coming days.”