Boy carried from Hibs game due to smoke bombs

A YOUNG fan had to be carried out of the ground during Hibs game at Livingston after two smoke bombs were set off in the stands.

Smoke drifts towards the pitch after Hibs fans set off smoke bombs at their game versus Livingston. Picture: SNS

The boy is understood to have suffered a panic attack after the smoke bombs containing acrid green smoke were set off by away supporters close to where he was sitting during Hibs’ 4-0 win. One man was arrested at the game after being caught with a smoke cannister.

Hibs condemned the behaviour and said the club would work with police to track down those responsible.

A club spokesman said: “We condemn people setting off any type of pyrotechnics in a crowd. It is dangerous. We have asked supporters to desist with this.

“We will look into this further and co-operate with police, and do what we can to help identify those involved and take appropriate action against them.”

He added: “We condemn this type of behaviour and will do what we can to try to stop it. People need to understand that to let these things off in a crowd is dangerous.”

Colin Grieve, secretary of the Southern branch of the Hibs Supporters Club, said the “disgraceful” behaviour was carried out by a minority and risked tarring the reputation of the rest of the fans.

He said: “It’s absolutely outrageous. It’s ridiculous that these people are getting away with it, and it seems to be the same section of the crowd that do it every time.

“It’s going to cause somebody some sort of damage or breathing problems. It’s just a disgrace – they should be banned from Easter Road and the police should be involved.

“It’s only started this season – we never had this last season. It’s giving the rest of the supporters a bad name. It’s one section of the crowd, it’s a minority – and it should be them that gets the blame.”

Frustrated Hibs fans took to social media to slam the latest unrest as an “embarrassment” to the club.

One tweet from @HFC1875Rumours read: “The young boy is thankfully OK but the fireworks/smoke bombs need to stop. They will have fines for Hibs and could cause a serious injury.”

User @joperrinx said: “These wee Hibs fans that are about 10 year old are an embarrassment to Hibs . . . setting off smoke bombs in peoples faces . . . so angry.”

Paul Gardner said: “Hibs fans were great for the most part at last night’s game at Livi apart from the idiots with the smoke bombs and flashbangs.”

And user Brian Fraser added: “Silly little kids with smoke bombs at the Hibs match. Pathetic. Even more so if it costs the club money.”

The official twitter account for popular fan site Hibees Bounce said the behaviour had “no place at Hibs.”

The incident comes after both Hibs and rival Hearts fans were warned against setting off flares during matches following arrests at an Edinburgh derby in May last year.

A number of flares were thrown on to the pitch and a 14-year-old boy was charged with vandalism after a seat in one of the stands was broken.

Three men were also charged with breach of the peace following a pitch invasion at the end of the match.