A CLARETS season ticket-holder who abused police in front of children claimed he struck after an officer told him, ‘Get back toothless,’ a court heard.

Burnley magistrates heard how Christopher Lee Heffernan, who has no top teeth, got involved in trouble after the Burnley v Blackburn game on March 28.

The jobless defendant was said to have shouted at officers arresting a man in Harry Potts Way: “Leave him alone. We pay your wages.”

Heffernan, 29, of Prestwich Street, Burnley, admitted using threatening words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

He was fined £100, with £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

District Judge Peter Ward said he was not imposing a football banning order as Heffernan had a limited record and no previous soccer-related offences.

Mark Williams, for Heffernan, said he had been following Burnley FC for about 20 years and took his nephews to matches.

He was not drinking that day, as he was driving.