A football supporter who tore pages of the Koran during a game has been banned from every ground in England and Wales for three years.

Middlesbrough fan Julie Phillips ripped up pages during her side's 2-2 draw away to Birmingham City last December, and police said that she had caused or contributed to other acts of disorder.

Phillips, who had already been given a lifetime ban from Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium, claimed that she did not know the book was the Koran.

Cleveland Police applied to the court for the 51-year-old to be banned from games as it was the latest of a number of incidents involving the Middlesbrough fan.

The police revealed that Phillips had been arrested at another game after allegedly racially abusing a steward.

Written by
Callum Mulvihill