"Brief report of meeting with ACC Campbell Corrigan"

[Joe O'Rourke]

[COLOR=#000000:49df349f]We met with Assistant Chief Constable Campbell Corrigan in St Mary’s Church Hall yesterday afternoon; the Association were joined by the Celtic Trust, the Affiliation, and the Irish Association; this is just a brief report.[COLOR=#000000:49df349f]The reason for the meeting was to question what we felt was the unnecessary use of force by the police in the section occupied by the Green Brigade in the match against Hibs on October 29th; and the subsequent refusal of Match Commander Eddie Smith to meet with us to discuss the issue. There was also the issue of the report in the Daily Record attributed to the ACC which seemed to indicate he wanted to meet with us to put us in our place; and give us a telling off.[COLOR=#000000:49df349f]ACC Corrigan said that the report in the Record was issued through the Strathclyde Police Press Office; and was misleading; as that was not his intention.[/COLOR:49df349f]
[COLOR=#000000:49df349f]As for the tactics used that day in October; it was his opinion that they would tend to use a more subdued approach in those circumstances; and the reason for Eddie Smith not meeting us was because there is a court case pending and he couldn’t therefore discuss it. [COLOR=#000000:49df349f]We also questioned him on the weekend imprisonment while awaiting a court appearance of two young Celtic supporters in connection with that match; he replied that he didn’t know the details but would investigate and give us an answer.[COLOR=#000000:49df349f]The meeting lasted about two hours and was a frank discussion between both parties; we tried to cover all the issues; like excessive use of cameras and intimidation; the ACC stated categorically that it was his intention to have zero arrests at football matches; and in relation to that he would like to have working relationship with the supporters groups.[COLOR=#000000:49df349f]A more detailed report will be published probably on Monday.