PC engulfed in flames at stadium escapes serious injuries

PC Andy Forbes has not suffered lasting injuries

A PC engulfed in flames when hit with a flare in disorder outside Villa Park says he is eternally grateful not to have been seriously hurt.

West Mercia Police officer Andy Forbes was injured when Legia Warsaw football fans clashed with police ahead of a European match in Birmingham on 1 December.

He was one of a number of officers supporting West Midlands Police ahead of the match, which Aston Villa won 2-1.

PC Forbes had been clearing bricks, bottles, and debris where officers were positioned when he was first hit by a traffic sign.

The officer said the incident had lasted just a few seconds

“Within a minute or so of that, a flare came in and landed on me,” said PC Forbes, a police officer for 18 years.

“At that stage, I was aware of a bright pink intense light around my upper chest."

PC Forbes said he had begun patting his chest in a bid to extinguish the flames.

“I remember it as a Roman candle effect and these little orange flickers coming off it. I was going off like a crackerjack.

“It was getting brighter and more intense."

Colleagues joined him in trying to extinguish the flames before he rolled on the floor to put them out.

"The relief and the adrenalin dump I got was unbelievable," PC Forbes said.

Three men have denied taking part in disorder after violence broke out before the game

PC Forbes, who is part of the safer neighbourhood team covering Wyre Forest, and is based in Kidderminster, spent the night at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where he was treated for minor burns and smoke and heat inhalation.

“It’s nothing lasting, for which I’m eternally grateful for,” he said.

West Mercia Police Federation chair Barry Horton added it had offered support to those policing that evening.

“The violence that officers faced that night was unacceptable," he said.

“At the end of the day, they’re men and women, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, and they shouldn’t have to face violence or the threat of violence just for doing their jobs."

Legia Warsaw fans clashed with police in the build-up to the match

Doran Urbaniak, 40, of Tudor Road, Leicester; Marchin Staniec, 30, and Bartlomiej Szmytke, 21, have each pleaded not guilty to a charge of violent disorder over the incident and were released on conditional bail ahead of a hearing in March 2025.

Forty-six men were arrested after the disorder, with criminal charges against 39 of the Polish fans subsequently dropped.

Charges against seven men were being proceeded with, the Crown Prosecution Service said.