Fan jailed for Kirkland attack
A football fan was jailed for 16 weeks today after he admitted attacking a goalkeeper during a televised football match.
Aaron Cawley, 21, from Cheltenham, pleaded guilty to assault and invading the pitch during Sheffield Wednesday’s home match against Leeds on Friday night.
Cawley, who appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court, was arrested after Wednesday keeper Chris Kirkland was pushed in the face during the game at Hillsborough.
The incident was one of a number of ugly scenes at the Yorkshire derby, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Kirkland, who has played for England, was shoved to the ground moments after conceding an equaliser in the 76th minute.
A man was clearly seen running from the Leeds fans onto the pitch and pushing Kirkland in the face before running back into the crowd.
The incident was caught on camera by Sky Sports, which was broadcasting the game.
Unemployed labourer Cawley stood in the glass-fronted dock wearing a blue T-shirt which left an ``LUFC'' tattoo clearly visible on his neck and a Leeds United club crest on his right arm.
The court heard that he had been the subject of two football banning orders in the past, which he had breached four times.
Despite living with his mother in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, he had supported Leeds United all his life and went to every game – home and away, a district judge was told.
Prosecutor Paul Macaulay said Cawley told police he was so drunk he could not remember the incident, which has been seen by millions of TV viewers.
District Judge Naomi Redhouse said she had not seen the footage and it was played for her in court today.
Mr Macaulay said Cawley told officers he had drunk a number of cans of Stella Artois lager on Friday morning, followed by three-quarters of a litre of vodka - all before he got to Sheffield by train.
Once in Sheffield, he had a further seven to 10 pints of cider, the court heard.
District Judge Redhouse heard that Cawley, of Blenheim Square, Cheltenham, only realised what he had done when other people told him and then he saw himself clearly on TV.
He emailed the police to say sorry and also emailed Sky Sports in the hope that his apology would be passed on to the two clubs and Kirkland.
His solicitor, Elizabeth Anderton, tried to tell the judge that reports that her client had bragged about the incident in social networking sites were wrong. But District Judge Redhouse stopped her, saying she had not seen the reports and was not interested.
Ms Anderton asked the district judge to accept that her client pushed Kirkland rather than slapped him.
She said Cawley had shown a “great deal of regret and remorse”.
“It’s certainly not something he would ordinarily do,” she said.
The solicitor said that, as well as drinking a huge amount of alcohol, her client had also not eaten before the match.
She said: “He was absolutely disgusted by his own behaviour.”
Ms Anderton said Cawley had lived in the Cheltenham area all his life and had inherited a love of Leeds United from his father.
She said her client hoped his apology has reached Kirkland and the two football clubs involved.
District Judge Redhouse said she had no choice but to impose an immediate custodial sentence.
She said a huge effort had been made to tackle hooliganism in football and “make football an event where there’s no violence and where families are happy to attend with children”.
She said footballers were at matches as part of their employment and everyone has the right to be “protected from being assaulted by a stranger” at work.
The district judge also noted that, while she had heard all the evidence about how much Cawley had to drink, she did not see any evidence of his drunkenness on the TV footage she had been shown.
Friday’s match was marred by a hostile atmosphere between the two sets of fans, culminating in the incident involving Cawley and Kirkland.
Wednesday manager Dave Jones – himself the subject of vile chants – urged Leeds fans after the game to clean up their act.
Jones, who was cleared of child abuse allegations in 2000, was disgusted by some of the chants directed his way, adding: “I heard a guy on the radio say I get well paid and it’s football banter.
“That’s not football banter, I’ve had that for 12 years off them (football fans).”
The Football Association has said it will investigate events.
There were five arrests for various offences including public order before and after the game, while three people were ejected from the ground and 12 were subject to dispersal orders.
Later, Cawley returned to court where he was formally given a six-year football banning order.
One of the conditions is for him to stay at least a mile away from football stadiums where Leeds United are playing on match days.
He was handcuffed before being led from the dock.
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