Two men issued with football banning orders following ticket tout offences

Two Liverpool men have been issued with five year football banning orders following ticket tout offences.

Stewart Christopher O’Brien, 46, of Whitehaven Road, Liverpool and John Paul Jennings, 41, of Handfield Street, Liverpool, were both given the bans after being seen Walton Breck Road on 1st February 2020 selling match tickets without being authorised.

They are both now banned from entering any football grounds in the UK, must surrender passports before any Liverpool, Everton or England games outside the UK and are also banned from a designated area around Anfield football ground for six hours before and one hour after any Liverpool home game (below).

If they fail to comply with the conditions of the order they could be sent to prison for six months or fined for each offence.

Chief Superintendent Paul White said: “Although fans are not currently allowed to attend football games we know that is likely to change in the next couple of months and it is important that action such as this is taken to protect genuine fans.

“We believe the majority of ticket touts target visitors to the city who have little or no experience of purchasing tickets, so may not be aware that the prices they are paying are vastly inflated or that the way they have been sold is illegal.

"Our activities to target touts will continue on future match days, working closely with the club to keep identifying ticket touts and doing all we can to prevent them from ruining people's experience of football and the city.

"Liverpool welcomes many thousands of tourists every year and we are determined to ensure that those who come to our city have a safe and enjoyable time protected from such fraud.

“Our advice to any supporters is clear: don't buy from ticket touts. It is a huge risk and you might just be throwing substantial amounts of money down the drain."

You can report any information to officers at the game, pass information via @MerPolCC, 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via the club at the following link: Ticket Touting (liverpoolfc.com)