Banned football fan in passport legal wrangle

James Blake was banned from attending football matches for three years

A football fan banned from attending matches for three years has been told he will have to surrender his passport when requested to by authorities after an appeal failed.

Newcastle United fan James Blake, 42, got the ban in January for offensive comments he made about the 1958 Munich air disaster.

He lost an appeal but Newcastle Crown Court judge Tim Gittins removed the requirement for him to surrender his passport when requested to by police as he was planning to move to Spain.

But now Judge Gittins has said he did not have the authority to do that and Blake would have to comply with any demands made by the football banning authority.

A football banning order includes a provision that lets the police demand fans hand in their passports at certain times to prevent them travelling to games abroad, although an exemption could be applied for.

Blake, of Wantage Avenue in North Shields, had argued the requirement would heavily interfere with his plans to relocate to Spain.

He was given the banning order by magistrates in January but appealed to the crown court in May.

Judge Gittins said the imposition of the order was "entirely appropriate" but after hearing of Blake's relocation plans, he was "tempted to make the order easier" for Blake by removing the passport requirement.

At a fresh hearing at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Gittins said "regrettably" he had found that was "not permissible" and the passport surrender was a "mandatory" part of a banning order.

"I'm afraid the legislation is clear that we cannot remove the condition we removed," Judge Gittins said.

The judge said it was therefore "incumbent" on Blake to "explain [his] position" to the authorities if he was ordered to surrender his passport.

Judge Gittins said he would "hope and expect" that if Blake was in Spain the police wold not require he surrender his passport but that was for them to decide.

He reiterated Blake was not obliged to hand back his passport unless specifically requested though.

Judge Gittins also told him if he was of "good behaviour" he could apply for the ban to be lifted a year early.

Blake had also been fined £400 and ordered to pay £620 costs after being filmed making the comments on the night of 27 September 2023 ahead of the match between Newcastle and Manchester City.

The accident on 6 February 1958 killed 23 people, including eight Manchester United players.