Fan stadium fall was 'accident waiting to happen'

A football fan who was injured along with his partner when a man fell on them from the stand above said it was an accident "waiting to happen".

Ipswich Town supporters Aaron Rose and Joanne Peters were hurt when a Maidstone United fan landed on them during an FA Cup clash at Portman Road in January 2024.

The supporter was found not guilty of assault charges at Ipswich Crown Court on Wednesday, but Rose said the impact of waiting for the case to go to court had been "dreadful".

He said the match should have been "much better marshalled" and a safety barrier should have been there at the time.

"There's many things that have gone through my head in the two-and-a-half years, and I want answers," he said.

Peters was in tears when she told the court she initially thought the supporters' box behind her had collapsed and thought she "could have died".

Rose, 49, who lives near Woodbridge in Suffolk, said his partner was badly affected as it had both aggravated her existing spinal condition of scoliosis and she had been abused online since the incident.

"When you've got a 6ft (1.8m) guy fall on top of you... it's not the easiest thing to digest," he said.

"I myself had a kick to the back of the head and was sore for a couple of days, but that's nothing compared to what my partner's had."

John Ryan was one of thousands of Maidstone supporters who saw their non-league side defy the odds to win 2-1 over Championship high-flyers Ipswich.

He was in the Cobbold Stand upper tier when he rolled down the sloping roof that covered the boxes and landed on the Ipswich supporters below.

Ryan said he was unsure if he had been pushed or his foot slipped when he fell.

The 62-year-old, of Railway Street in Chatham, Kent, was found not guilty of assault by beating and not guilty of causing actual bodily harm.

Rose said following the jury's verdict, he planned to contact the Football Association (FA) to "ask for answers" about how the "charged" match was run.

The welder-fabricator said he and Peters had already met Ipswich Town officials and were told it had to follow FA rules on the day, but did not find out until it was mentioned in court that there was no type of safety barrier on the upper tier of the Cobbold Stand at the time.

Shortly after Ryan's fall, the club introducedglass screens at the bottom of the upper tier of the stand.

"I don't want to see anyone get hurt again," said Rose.

"I believe it should be much better marshalled, and to be honest the barrier that's now there - that my partner asked for - it should have been there many years ago, not just in the last couple of years."

Speaking to reporters outside court on Wednesday, when Ryan was asked if he would like to say anything to Rose and Peters, he said: "I'm sorry, it was an accident.

"I'm sorry it happened, what more can I say?"

Ipswich Town and the FA were approached for comment.

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