A football fan missed a match because he was drunk and abusive, a court heard.

Hull supporter Andrew Lawday was refused entry to Layer Road football ground when his team was playing Colchester United because a steward thought he was too drunk.

The 38-year-old became abusive and swore at police officers who came to help, Colchester magistrates heard. They later found 1.2 grams of herbal cannabis on him.

Lawday, of Amhurst Road in Hackney, London, yesterday admitted being drunk inside a designated football ground and possession of cannabis.

The court heard he had been trying to cheer himself up after the death of his mother a week earlier.

He was fined £120 for each offence with £43 costs. Magistrates refused a football banning order applied for by Essex Police because Lawday has no history of violence and was not violent when he committed the offences.

Published Friday, February 25, 2005

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