Football fan arrested for 'punching a horse' after Portsmouth-Southampton derby

A football fan has been arrested after he allegedly punched a horse after watching his side lose 4-0 to their fiercest rivals.

Police said the 52-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty after a video showed a fan appearing to throwing a punch at a horse went viral on social media.

The video shows a man in a blue shirt - seemingly in support of Portsmouth Football Club - attempting to hit the police horse after a League Cup clash on  Tuesday night.

In the footage of the aftermath of the first match in seven years between bitter rivals Southampton and Portsmouth, the supporter then attempts to run from the horse, but his path is blocked as he ends up in the arms of a group of police officers with riot shields.

Hampshire Constabulary said a 52-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty and attempted criminal damage and remains in custody.

The force revealed a further four supporters were arrested following Southampton's 4-0 win at Portsmouth's Fratton Park.

A spokeswoman for Hampshire police said: "A 40-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of possession of a pyrotechnic, he remains in custody at this time.

"An 18-year-old and 19-year-old man were given a conditional caution for a public order offence.

"We also arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of a public order offence. He was later released with no further action to be taken."

The force's assistant chief constable Scott Chilton said: "Our priority was to keep people safe and I'm pleased to be able to say this morning that our policing operation has achieved that.

"We knew that the majority of fans wanted to enjoy this match without having to worry about their safety and we did want we felt was needed to reassure them.

"Sadly we had to prepare for the potential that a minority would try and ruin it for everyone else and this required us, in conjunction with both clubs and our partners, to put plans in place to ensure we were ready to stop that.

"As expected, due to the nature of the routes to and from Fratton Park, there were times were groups of opposing fans came into close proximity to one another.

"However, as a result of our careful planning we were able to keep these groups apart and get them to and from the stadium safely.

"I think the fact that we have had no reports of anyone being injured and only a few people arrested is testament to the hard work that everyone has put into this operation."

The Carabao Cup clash was the first time the two south coast rivals have faced each other since 2012, with a heavy police presence in the city to handle the two sets of fans.

Officers from Kent and Thames Valley Police were drafted in to help on the night.

After the game, the video of a supporter which appears to show him attempting to punch the police horse was widely shared on Twitter, as people condemned the fan's actions.

In 2013, a similar attack on a police horse took place in Newcastle, when Magpies fan Barry Rogerson was pictured throwing a punch at Bud the Horse. He was jailed for 12 months.