Ten Britons were being deported voluntarily, judge Filipe Marques said after an 11-hour hearing, and seven of these received suspended sentences.

An 11th, Gary Norman Mann, was sentenced to two years in prison for riotous behaviour and inciting a riot, which would be served in Britain.

"I wasn't even there, it's a stitch-up," he yelled after sentence was passed. The 12th Briton and a Portuguese detained by police on Tuesday morning were set free.

The 14, who all denied the charges, were brought to court in handcuffs after being arrested on Tuesday morning when about 200 people ran riot in this popular resort.

Thousands of English soccer fans are in Portugal for the three-week Euro 2004 tournament and Albufeira is the centre for English tourists on the Algarve coast.

The Russian had a broken arm in plaster and all the defendants appeared dazed and grubby after two nights in police cells. One of the Britons had a black eye and cut face, and he told the court he had broken two ribs.

The judge asked each defendant, whose ages ranged from 19 to 46, if they were willing to be deported voluntarily.

He gave them the option of remaining for the outcome of a trial. They said they did not want to be handed over for deportation before hearing the evidence.

RIOT POLICE

The judge heard each defendant's account of events during the night of Monday/Tuesday when glasses, bottles and chairs were thrown at police and riot police charged the crowd.

Most of the proceedings were conducted in Portuguese although the sentences and the judge's opening statement were translated.

About 20 police witnesses were called by the prosecution and they pointed at people in the dock they said they had seen in the area where the riot took place.

The defence called family and friends of the defendants to give evidence. Some of the defendants said they were a long way from the bars where the alleged events took place.

As midnight approached the judge absolved four of the accused Britons and set one of these free.

Seven received suspended sentences of several months and Mann was jailed. The Russian was forbidden to return to Portugal for five years as were some of the Britons.

Thirty four other people, all British except one Dutchman, are expected in court on Thursday after further riots early on Wednesday in Albufeira.

Eight people were injured after hooligans wearing England soccer shirts threw bottles and chairs at police in the same area of Albufeira where fans rioted the previous night.

England fans have a reputation for hooliganism and caused serious trouble in France during the World Cup in 1998 and in Belgium at the last European Championship in 2000.