A protester that invaded the pitch during the International Cricket Champions trophy match , in Cardiff, between Sri Lanka and India, pleaded guilty to a section five public order offence at Cardiff Maistrates’ Court.
The protester explained that he ran onto the pitch for the “40,000 people killed by the Sri Lankan government and a Tamil Eelam flag that represented the North-East of Sri Lanka.
Acknowledging that the Tamils had a grievance against the Sri Lankan government, the judge asked the protester to explain why ran on the pitch.
Representing himself in court, the protester explained,
“On the day I went a lot of Sri Lankans were shouting ‘you can never come back to Sri Lanka, saying if you come there they would kill me, so I told them you are in a democratic country Britain and that they couldn’t do anything here.”
“That’s why I took the flag and ran on the pitch.”
As a result of the hearing the protester was given seven days to pay a fine of £360. The maximum fine for such an offence is £2500.
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