'No officer deserves this': Scottish Police Federation chief condemns Rangers title party carnage

Saturday’s football-related violence in Glasgow has been labelled the worst police have experienced in more than 20 years, as graphic images emerged of injured officers.

Scottish Police Federation general secretary, Calum Steele, condemned the violence, and took to social media to share three incredibly graphic pictures of injuries suffered by police officers in George Square.

WARNING: Distressing images below

One showed an officer with their arm in a cast and another with a bloody mouth and broken teeth.

Mr Steele wrote: “No matter how unbelievably lucky we are to have such courageous officers protecting our communities, none of them - NONE - deserve this.”

Speaking on BBC Good Morning Scotland on Monday, Mr Steele said the carnage which unfolded in Glasgow over the weekend was “disgraceful”.

He said: “There are almost no polite words left to describe how bad the events in Glasgow at the weekend – and indeed the wider west of Scotland – were.

"Some of the officers, in fact many of the officers who are quite long in the tooth have probably quite rightly described it as some of the worst violence that they have experienced in over 20 years of police service.

Graphic images shared on social media show injuries suffered by two police officers who attended the carnage in George Square. (Picture credit: Calum Steele)

"That’s a damning indictment of the kind of city Glasgow turned into – or certainly parts of Glasgow – at the weekend.”

When asked if the chaos was expected, Mr Steel said that violence is “never inevitable” but to a certain extent it can be expected.

He said: “The requirement for individuals to take responsibility for their own behaviours of course can never be understated, but there is no inevitably about violence and it is unfortunate that the predictions of potential violence turned out to be true."

Rangers fans gathered at George Square after Rangers lift The SPFL Premier League Cup on the last day of the season on Saturday.

He continued to say that police will undoubtedly have to answer questions about what happened, but that those who were serving “deserve nothing other than the most wholesome praise”.

He added that at one point there were an estimated 15,000 rangers fans in George Square and that there was “no way a police service of almost any size could have stopped them”.

Rangers have been met with harsh criticism over the scenes which unfolded, and Mr Steele said the club has a fundamental role to play in “laying out to fans and indeed football authorities in general” what is and isn’t acceptable.

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