Broker is jailed over football match riot

A stockbroker was jailed for two years yesterday for his part in a riot after a football match between Millwall and Birmingham City.

Ian Stone, 24, of Rotherhithe, south-east London, was caught on video camera throwing a missile at police after the Division One play-off match on 2 May, Woolwich Crown Court was told. Stone was also spotted by a police officer brandishing a large plank of wood as his face was "contorted with rage".

Stone, who pleaded guilty to violent disorder at an earlier hearing, was one of 900 hooligans who pelted police with missiles outside Millwall's New Den ground in Bermondsey. More than 100 officers were injured, many seriously, in the violence, which was described by the police as some of the worst London had seen.

Appearing for sentencing alongside Stone were Paul Healy, 20, an air-conditioning and ventilation engineer, of Bromley, south-east London, and John Manzaroli, a 25-year-old warehouseman, from Fulham, west London.

Healy was given a two-year sentence at a young offenders institution while Manzaroli was also jailed for two years for his part in the violence. Both had admitted single counts of violent disorder at a court hearing two months ago.