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London - An England football hooligan has been slapped with what the judge termed the first ever ban from football for his role in the violence that preceded England's opening Euro 2016 match with Russia last weekend.
Daniel Warlow, 24 and who already had a long list of disorder offences relating to football, received the punishment from the judge in Birmingham, England, for throwing a metal chair as English and Russian fans fought pitched battles in the streets of Marseille on Friday on the eve of the match.
Warlow was picked out by a UK-based 'spotter', who according to the prosecutor Amar Sanghara watched TV images of the violence last Friday including video of the accused 'throwing a chair'.
"I'm not going to give you a lecture, I think you've learned from experience of the last week how things can go terribly wrong in society," the judge Shamim Qureshi told Warlow, who did not contest the case.
The court heard Warlow was known to police as a member of a "risk group" of Birmingham City supporters, himself involved in at least nine incidents of domestic football disorder since 2010.
Police did stop Warlow, with two other companions, on his way out of England on June 9 but let him get on his flight to Brussels from where they travelled to Marseille.
"Warlow stated he was a member of the England Supporters' Club and had a ticket for the Euro 2016 game on June 11 (against Russia)," said the prosecutor.
The judge told Warlow he should not consider himself as a martyr.
"It's important to realise that I expect you're the first person subject to this application in this country, so you'll no doubt be vilified for that on social media and the internet.
"But there are many others in the same boat - you are not a scapegoat.
"Each will receive their just desserts when brought to book."
On Monday a French court had jailed six Britons for up to three months.
