Police apologise over football violence film error

Scotland Yard have issued an unreserved apology after issuing pictures of actors from a hit film among images of football fans wanted after rioting broke out at a match. Earlier this week police issued 66 pictures of people supposedly caught on camera during violent clashes at the game between West Ham and Millwall.

But it has emerged that the images mistakenly included stills of six of actors from recent hooligan-themed movie The Firm. The Metropolitan police said: "We wish to apologise unreservedly to those affected."

Police used a Sky TV report to capture images of fans fighting at the Carling Cup clash in August. But it appears that because the officers turned off the sound from the report, they failed to realise it included footage from the movie.



Among the actors who faces were swept up among those at the match and issued to media on Wednesday was Paul Anderson, who plays Bex in the film. The error was described by Yard insiders as a "bad day at the office" for those responsible.

Scotland Yard said: "Six images in individuals who were not involved in the violence were mistakenly included. These images appear to have been taken from a motion picture.

"We wish to apologise unreservedly to those affected. We are going to be actively trying to contact those people to offer our apologies."