VOTE NOW: Were Burnley ‘Suicide Squad’ members too harshly treated by the courts?

BURNLEY “Suicide Squad” hooligans have been jailed for a total of 32 years after violence erupted after the Clarets’ Premier League clash with Blackburn Rovers.

The 12 men were convicted of - or pleaded guilty to - conspiracy to cause violent disorder at Preston Crown Court after attempting to attack the Station Pub, in Cherry Tree, Blackburn, following Burnley FC’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Rovers.

Football banning orders totalling 97 years were also handed down by His Honour Judge Knowles who deplored the actions of the “mob” whom he said had clearly come for a “mass brawl in the streets”.

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Among those jailed was “ringleader” Andrew Porter (44), the author of Suicide Squad: The Inside Story of a Football Firm.

Porter, who appeared on TV show The Real Football Factories with Danny Dyer, was imprisoned for five years and slapped with a 10-year banning order.

The sentencing of a further two men was adjourned until April pending the outcome of a change of plea application.