Four Dublin-based football supporters who travelled to Derry on Tuesday night for the Eircom League Cup final between Derry City and Bohemians were jailed for three months yesterday when they admitted their involvement in disturbances outside a city centre pub an hour before the match.
Jailing the four, Resident Magistrate Barney McElholm described their actions as "outrageous thuggery".
The four were Evan Kane (20), Upper Dorset Street, Dublin; Francis O'Reilly (29), Clonturk Park, Dublin; Gavin James Hanly (22), McKee Park, Dublin; and Brian Shannon (20), Ventry Drive, Cabra.
All four pleaded guilty to a charge of riotous behaviour at the Tavern Bar in the loyalist Fountain Estate on Derry's west bank. O'Reilly, Hanly and Shannon also pleaded guilty to a charge of causing up to £3,000 (€4,300) of criminal damage to the bar.
The four, who declined legal representation in court, were among seven men arrested for the disturbances. The three other men were released unconditionally having stayed on Tuesday night in the cells in Derry's police headquarters at Strand Road.
A Public Prosecution Service solicitor told the court that once inside the Tavern Bar the men shouted "Up The Ra" and smashed three windows, damaged items of furniture and assaulted two women. The incidents were recorded on CCTV.
The magistrate said: "this must have been a very frightening experience for the customers and staff. I view this as an extremely serious offence.
"We for a long time in this part of the country have had to put up with violence and now just at a time when we at last seem to be dragging ourselves out of it, you four arrive from Dublin.
Two of the four defendants wept in the dock when the sentences were passed.
All four asked to instead be allowed to pay compensation and restitution to the bar owner, Kingsley Curry, who was in court for the hearing.
Resident Magistrate McElholm asked Mr Curry if he would prefer compensation or punishment. "Punishment - I will take the loss," Mr Curry replied. The sentences stood.