Pepper Spray used at Aus Open

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THREE men ejected from the Australian Open tennis in Melbourne last night after police used pepper spray to control rowdy fans, have been banned from returning to the tournament this year.

A police spokesman said Tennis Australia this morning issued banning notices on the three men, who were among a crowd of Greek fans who became involved in an aggressive confrontation with police.
Under the banning notices, the men will be fined if they attend the tournament again in the next 24 hours, and after that time will be charged with trespass if they attend during the remainder of the tournament.
Police today defended the use of capsicum spray on the unruly fans ejected from the Open during a match between Chile's Fernando Gonzalez and Greek player Konstantinos Economidis on Margaret Court Arena.
Officers were called in about 8.30pm (AEDT) to calm the crowd after complaints of drunken and abusive behaviour by a group of about 100 Greek fans.
One fan tried to punch police and another fell over in a drunken stupor during an aggressive confrontation with police.
Play was suspended for five minutes while police used capsicum spray to restore order.
Some fans criticised the response as heavy-handed but Victoria Police Superintendent John Cooke today said the action was justified and police would do it again in similar circumstances.
"The use of the spray actually averted probably what would have ended up being a much larger physical confrontation."
Australian Open director Craig Tiley backed the police response and joined police in ruling out segregating fans of different nationalities at matches.

I head about this earlier this morning on 3AW, the person they were interviewing was hilarious, was something along the lines of
Add aussie/greek accent here : Yeh mate da police were dere juz to cauz trubl ay. We did nuffin wrong ay. We havin a good night bro and police come and ruin da fun again.

Was along those lines...I am sick of the population blaming police...take some ****ing responsibility for your stupid actions instead of finding someone else to blame because you are a ********. Do these louts expect anything else when they attempt to assault an officer?

Personally, police should have Tasers, no arguments then.

Anyways, just wanted a bitch.

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And the follow on story.

AUSTRALIAN Open organisers have backed a police decision to use pepper spray on unruly fan.

Police were called about 8.30pm (AEDT) yesterday to calm the crowd after complaints of drunken and abusive behaviour by a group of about 100 Greek fans at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne.

Play between Chile's Fernando Gonzalez and Greek player Konstantinos Economidis was suspended for five minutes while police used capsicum spray to restore order.

Some fans called the response as heavy-handed but Victoria Police Superintendent John Cooke today said the action was justified and police would do it again in similar circumstances.

"If the same situation arose I see that as the best option," he said.

"The use of the spray actually averted probably what would have ended up being a much larger physical confrontation."

Supt Cooke said 10 people were treated for exposure to capsicum spray, but he denied any children were affected.

Ten people were ejected from the match and another three Greek fans were arrested and banned from the Open for 24 hours.

They are expected to face charges including assaulting police, resisting arrest, using indecent language and failing to obey the directions of a police member.

Police said they would also try to have the three Greek fans banned from the tennis for up to five years.

Australian Open director Craig Tiley backed the police response and ruled out segregating fans at matches.

"We have full confidence in the actions that they (police) take and certainly in this case the actions that they were forced to take were the correct actions," he said.

"We absolutely believe that there's been no damage to the reputation of the Open, we are disappointed that the behaviour of a very small group of people does impact on the enjoyment of the fans."

After the match, Gonzalez said he had never seen capsicum spray used at a tennis tournament.

He said that while the crowd was noisy and one Greek fan was abusive to him in Spanish, he was not overly insulted.

"They say a few things, but it's part of the crowd," Gonzalez said.

Economidis - who lost the match 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 - said he was saddened by the incident.

"It was strange. It's never happened to me before," he said.

"It's really something that nobody wants. It was a great atmosphere except for this certain point of the match that this incident happened.

"I am really unhappy about what happened."

[Silver surfer]

I have been sprayed with cap spray as you have to be hit with it to be able to carry it. I would advise to everyone that you never annoy the police enough that they use it on you, cause damn it hurts.

[jules]

i laughed when i read this story. it reminded me of some people i know of who "doen take ordaz from noone but myshelf" and sweet justice.

if the cops tell you to shut up, just shut the **** up. it's not hard.

[AttaBoy]

Pepper spray... Pfft.. They should just use tasers. Hurts more plus fun for others to see a person being humiliated by a taser gun.

[Silver surfer]

yer but a taser does not have any effect in croud control like they wanted where as the pepper spray hit the intended persons and the crowd around them settling them. Any person who uses pepper spray is leagaly binded to help the persons they spray afterwards. so thery would have sprayed the guy then dragged him off and washed it all out with alot of water telling him to not let the water run to his nether rigions.

[AttaBoy]

Is capsicum and pepper spray have same effect?? Or one is more painful than the other??

[Silver surfer]

they are pretty much the same just made from different things, however there is different levels of the stuff the police and defence members use the most powerful stuff out and it is capsicum spray containing chilli,capsicum and vinigar (if i remember correctly) what is the killer is the fact that the particals from the capsicum stick in the pours of your skin and in your eyes, it is common to get a secondary exposure to the stuff hours later because it sticks to the back of your retna and kills, and if you have a shower and still have it in your hair or what not.

when i got sprayed with the stuff there was this other guy who had a shower that night and shaved his head so it didn't get him however it was in his eye brows so he was in the shower screaming like a little baby. was a little funny.

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Originally Posted by Silver surfer

they are pretty much the same just made from different things, however there is different levels of the stuff the police and defence members use the most powerful stuff out and it is capsicum spray containing chilli,capsicum and vinigar (if i remember correctly) what is the killer is the fact that the particals from the capsicum stick in the pours of your skin and in your eyes, it is common to get a secondary exposure to the stuff hours later because it sticks to the back of your retna and kills, and if you have a shower and still have it in your hair or what not.

when i got sprayed with the stuff there was this other guy who had a shower that night and shaved his head so it didn't get him however it was in his eye brows so he was in the shower screaming like a little baby. was a little funny.

mmm i remember my gas days of training...loads of fun....not.

[Silver surfer]

I'm not a fan of the gas either it suck but not as much as cap spray

[juzo]

I'm going down saturday so hopefully no troubles!
I agree with the way police handled it 100%, these ********s just spoil it for everyone around them, they're only there to create problems so they should be dealt with harshly.

[badaz]

It kills ,we get sprayed for training cause we carry it we have to feel the effects of it. I carry a foam type because I work at an airport and have to go onto planes, spray is no good as it gets into the air con and costs big bucks to get it out.
The guys in melb will have to justify why they did it and do some paper work on it.
So if a copper gets out his spay my sugestion is stop doing what you are doing cause you will be in pain very shortly.

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Apparently the guy causing the trouble is also banned from all Melbourne Victory games for life....