A FOOTBALLER who was charged with affray following an incident during a match between CPD Y Rhyl 1879 and CPD Bangor 1876 has had the charge against him withdrawn.

Leon Atkins, 21, of Oldfield Chase, Heswall, was charged in connection with a fight which broke out at the end of Rhyl’s match against CPD Bangor 1876 last October.

He was a Rhyl footballer at the time, though it was confirmed on June 12 that he has now left the club.

Atkins’ hearing was due to take place at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court yesterday (June 28), but the charge was withdrawn.

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Rhyl and Bangor players sentenced after mass brawl during match

Red cards and mass brawl at Rhyl-Bangor match prompts investigation

A couple of co-defendants, Rhyl player Alex Jones, 28, of Rhuddlan, and Bangor’s Shaun Lock, 31, of Bangor, were each sentenced at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court on May 3 after admitting affray.

On that date, Atkins’ hearing was adjourned due to his solicitor being absent.

Both Jones and Lock were each ordered to pay a £750 fine, a £300 surcharge, and £85 in court costs.

During the May 3 hearing, the court heard that the incident took place on October 22, 2022 at Rhyl’s Belle Vue ground, during an Ardal North West League match which Bangor won 2-1 in front of a crowd of 711.

Robert Thomas, a retired man who went to watch the game despite not supporting either club, said he felt “shocked” and “sickened” in a witness statement.

He said he saw a Rhyl player “swing a haymaker punch straight to the face of a Bangor player”, before immediately punching him again, despite the fact that he “hadn’t seen the Bangor player do anything”.

Jake Smith, a linesman at the match, said he had “never seen this scale of violent behaviour occur in a football match that I have been a part of”.

In total, seven red cards were shown in October’s game.