Extradited fan: They’re making an example of me before World Cup

An England football fan convicted of rioting in Portugal during Euro 2004 described the verdict as "a very dark day for justice," as he flew to Lisbon to begin his two-year sentence.

Former firefighter Garry Mann, 52, met Scotland Yard detectives at Heathrow before being handed over to Portuguese police carrying extradition papers.

Mr Mann, of Faversham, Kent, said he had not had a fair trial: "I have been let down by the politicians that agreed to the UK's rigid extradition laws and the European arrest warrant and by the judges who no longer seem willing to stand up for justice.

"This was supposed to have been for terrorists brought in after 9/11 but, for some reason, I have been caught in its net. I am not the first victim of this system and, until it's reformed, I won't be the last."

He said he was being made an example of before the World Cup: "But as far as Portugal is concerned, I am England's number one football hooligan. I have been held up as an example to put off others from causing trouble at football and just before the World Cup."

Mr Mann, had fought a six year struggle to clear his name. Dc Alan Rutter, of Humberside police who attended the trial to advise Portuguese police on English soccer fans, called the trial a farce. Mr Mann, a father of two girls, has repeatedly insisted that he was drinking at the Blues Bar with his brother and a friend at the time of the Albufeira riot.

Fair Trials International, the group that has campaigned on his behalf, described his trial in Portugal as "a travesty of justice".