Police charge 46 men over major disorder outside Villa Park

West Midlands Police have charged 46 men over Thursday night’s violence outside Villa Park.

Of those, 43 have been charged with a public order offence, while two have been charged with assaulting police officers and another has been charged with possession of a knife.

The incident comes after serious disorder outside the stadium during the Aston Villa vs Legia Warsaw game on Thursday night which led to over 40 arrests.

Those charged are aged between and 21 and 63, and around 40 are believed to be from Poland. A small number are believed to be UK residents.

All of the men are due in court today, except for one man who has been bailed to appear at a later date.

According to the force, a special court has been set up at Birmingham magistrates and will begin hearing the cases this morning.

“We are continuing to review CCTV and body-worn video footage to identify further suspects in what was an appalling and violent public disorder,” a police statement read.

“It is now known five officers suffered minor injuries in the disorder.

“Two of these were from West Midlands Police, two from West Mercia and one from Derbyshire. They are receiving support at this time.

“Two dogs from West Midlands Police and two horses from Thames Valley were injured and are recovering.”

Det Supt Jim Munro, who is overseeing the criminal investigation, said: “Our investigation is very much continuing and we’ll be reviewing footage and speaking to witnesses over the coming days.

“To charge this number of people so soon after such a major disorder has taken a huge effort by staff who have been working around the clock.

“We’ve had a number of messages of thanks from the club and fans who were present on Thursday night and saw the policing operation first hand, and we are really grateful for that support.”