Spurs fan admits mocking Hillsborough tragedy by mimicking being crushed

Kieron Darlow, 25, raised both of his hands with his palms facing out - pretending to be pushed and squashed in the way victims of the 1989 disaster were, the CPS said.

Prosecutors said Darlow made the gesture when Tottenham played Liverpool at Anfield on April 30.

He was seen laughing and those who challenged him said he caused real alarm and distress.

His actions were reported to the police at the game and Darlow, who was in the Lower Anfield Road stand, was identified and arrested.

Officers said he seemed to be drunk, the CPS said.

Darlow admitted the gesture was to suggest that ticketless fans had pushed forward in the tragedy and had been partly to blame for the crush that led to so many deaths.

He accepted at court that it was his intention that Liverpool fans should see this and that it would cause them harassment, alarm and distress, the CPS said.

Associate Prosecutor Andrew Page, of the CPS, said: "Darlow knew what he was doing and it was done knowing what an impact the Hillsborough tragedy had on Liverpool fans and the city of Liverpool but he did it anyway.

"This sort of behaviour is not only unacceptable, it is criminal.

"We hope this prosecution sends a message out to all football fans that their behaviour at football games is important and that, if it crosses into criminality, they will be met with the full force of the law."

The Hillsborough crush killed 97 Liverpool fans and injured 766 more when police opened an exit gate before the FA Cup semi final against Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989.

The overcrowding caused a crush in two pens in the Leppings Lane End of Hillsborough Stadium where Liverpool fans were housed.

There were 94 deaths on the day while another fan died in hospital days later, and another victim died in 1993.

In July 2021, a coroner ruled that Andrew Devine, who died 32 years later, after suffering severe and irreversible brain damage on the day, was the 97th victim.

An inquest ruled the fans had been unlawfully killed and a catalogue of failings by police and the ambulance services contributed to their deaths.

Darlow pleaded guilty to intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress at Bootle magistrates' court on May 17.

He apologised to the fans who saw it and to Tottenham Hotspur football club and the court.

He will be sentenced on June 13.