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Family beg UK government for help as England fan who 'invaded' World Cup dressing room faces a YEAR in jail

By Christian Gysin for the Daily Mail and Jane Flanagan for MailOnline
Updated: 11:50 EST, 21 June 2010

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The family of England fan Pavlos Joseph today pleaded for the British Government to help him after being told by South African police that he faced up to a year in jail for entering the England dressing room.

Appearing in court today for a second time, Mr Joseph, 32, was accused of trespass after confronting the England players following the match against Algeria on Friday.

The fan claimed he was directed into the changing room by a stadium official after asking for directions to the toilet.

His family have been told he could be jailed for up to a year and fear he is being made a scapegoat by embarrassed South African authorities.

In the dock: England fan Pavlos Joseph outside Cape Town Magistrates' Court today during a court recess. He is charged with two counts of trespassing and his family have been told he faces up to a year in jail

Mr Joseph's tearful sister Sylvia Higgins, 44, said: 'He's been made a scapegoat by the South African police. We won't stop fighting until we get him out of there. I want our government to help him. The whole family can't stop crying at the moment.

'To tell you the truth, we're all feeling low. We can't believe that it's come to this. Pavlos shouldn't be standing before court - he didn't do anything that bad. This has got completely out of hand now.

'We'll do everything we can to get him out of there a free man. We spoke to him last night and he seems to be doing okay.

'But we haven't been able to speak to him that much and don't know a huge amount about what's going on out there.'

South African police said that the case was remanded until Friday for plea and trial.

Mr Joseph was released on 500 rand bail, his passport will stay in the possession of South African police and he may not attend any 2010 Fifa World Cup matches pending the finalisation of his trial.

Yesterday, flanked by 14 armed police officers, Mr Joseph looked bewildered and anxious throughout a 12-minute hearing, smiling only briefly at members of his family, before being bailed for £45 to return to court today for trial today.

He had arrived in handcuffs at the special sitting of Cape Town's magistrates court and under heavy police guard after being tracked down to his hotel by police yesterday.

Cuffed: England fan Pavlos Joseph is escorted to Cape Town Magistrates Court with 14 armed officers

The mortgage adviser, who was wearing a grey top and jeans, was charged under two counts of legislation specially drawn up for the World Cup, relating to trespass.

His passport has been confiscated and he is expected to face a hefty fine if convicted. He was banned from attending any further matches until his case is concluded, as are his relatives.

The Manchester United fan, who lives in Norwood, South London, claims he had become lost in Cape Town's Green Point stadium after Friday's 0-0 draw with Algeria.

In custody: Joseph (under blanket) is escorted by South African police after being detained for trespass

'It's not like he stole the Crown Jewels is it?' said Joseph's uncle Leo Andrews, 47, who, along with his own sons, had joined his nephew on the trip.

'They promised me they weren't going to cuff him. He really didn't want to be cuffed and he was close to tears at the thought of it this morning at the police station.'

Joseph claimed yesterday that he stumbled upon the England players 45 minutes after the match, saying: 'The crazy thing is I only went looking for the toilet.

Joseph said he 'was looking for the toilet'

England supporter Mr Joseph burst into the dressing room and asked ex-England captain David Beckham where the toilet was

'The next thing I knew, there was David Beckham standing in front of me. I froze and looked round. I saw Joe Cole walk naked out of the shower a few feet away from me. He glanced at me and then did a massive double take.

'Then David looked at me. His face seemed to drop. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The room was dead silent. The players were sitting on benches with towels round their waists just looking at me. It was surreal.'

Beckham, who is with England as a coach, asked who he was and the interloper replied: 'I'm Pavlos... and I actually need the toilet.'

Tempers flare: Under-pressure Fabio Capello tries to get a point across to the captain he deposed, John Terry, during the Algeria debacle on Friday

PS: IF YOU THINK WE'RE SUFFERING...

With our manager Fabio Capello on the brink of quitting if England do not qualify for the last 16, rumours of player unrest and two dire performances, it may seem as if things couldn't be worse.

But it will surely cheer up the English to hear that the French are having a far worse time of it.

Virtually out of the competition, after one defeat and a draw, the feuding French have sent home their striker, Nicolas Anelka (pictured above arriving at Heathrow this morning from Cape Town).

The Chelsea star called the widely unpopular coach, Raymond Domenech, the 'Go f*** yourself, you son of a whore' at half-time during their shock defeat by Mexico.

In response, the sulking French players refused to train yesterday, while their fitness coach stormed home after a training ground row with the captain, Manchester United's Patrice Evra.

He then told the ex-England captain: 'David, we've spent a lot of money getting here. This is a disgrace. What are you going to do about it?' He then said loudly to the players: 'That was woeful and not good enough.'

He claimed the players looked 'ashamed' before he was told to leave

His uncle added yesterday: 'I've had his mother on the phone giving me such grief.

'On balance I think I'd rather have been nicked myself than have to put up with her giving me all this hassle about how I should not have let him out of my sight.

'But it's not like he's a teenager, is it?'

Meanwhile, rumours of a falling-out with the coach Fabio Capello dominated the England camp following the Algeria debacle.

In a press conference yesterday, John Terry, the captain deposed by the coach over a sex scandal, admitted his team lacked the fight and desire against the Africans and were on the brink of an embarrassing first-round exit.

He denied the players had become increasingly resentful of the disciplinarian Italian, who has banned beer and WAGs from the competition, and that star striker Wayne Rooney had developed an inflated ego.

Terry disclosed that the players had called a crisis meeting for last night in an attempt to iron out disagreements with the coach over treatment and tactics.

The players want to see goal-shy striker Emile Heskey dropped in favour of a more advanced role for Steven Gerrard and Chelsea winger Joe Cole to be used for the first time.

The FA fear Fabio Capello is preparing to quit if England fail to beat Slovenia on Wednesday.

Less than three weeks after removing an escape clause from a contract which expires in 2012, Capello is believed to concerned about splits in the squad which he feels have undermined his World Cup plans.

However, no matter how bad things get for England, fans can console themselves that the situation is a good deal worse for their other European rivals.

France are in turmoil, with a revolution threatening to ruin preparation for their crucial last match against South Africa tomorrow, Spain and Germany having suffered totally unpredicted defeats in their early games and Italy managing to muster only a draw against the unfancied rugby-playing nation, New Zealand, yesterday.