JAIL FOR FOOTBALLER WHO PUNCHED REF
THUG ALSO KICKED OPPONENT IN HEAD
A FOOTBALLER who kicked an opponent in the head during a match before punching the referee as he was red-carded has been jailed for 15 months.
Standing in the dock of Craigavon Crown Court, Niall Lavery (32) repeatedly wiped away tears and his wife wept in the public gallery as Judge Patrick Lynch QC ordered the “obviously talented” player to spend a further 25 months on licence after release.
“Your conduct on March 25, 2017 has disgraced yourself and disgraced your sport,” the judge told Lavery.
“There is no place in such sporting conflicts... for fiendish activity as this — an unprovoked assault in the most violent manner upon an opponent.”
With a jury sworn in and ready to hear evidence, Lavery, from Bowens Mews in Lurgan, changed his plea and confessed to unlawfully and maliciously causing grievous bodily harm to Gary Hill with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.
Lavery also admitted the assault on Joshua Porter, the match official.
Prosecuting counsel Ian Tannahill told the court the offences arose during what was described as a “feisty” cup match between Lavery’s team Silverwood and Mourneview Mill, who won the tie 2-0.
He said that there was “some indication” as to Lavery’s temper earlier in the match when, having missed a penalty, he gave a lengthy, foul-mouthed rant.
The incident giving rise to the charges happened in the closing minutes. Mr Hill passed the ball and Lavery, known as ‘Buckshot’ by fellow players and opponents alike, swiped his feet out from under him.
According to the referee’s statement, he was reaching into his back pocket for a red card to send the player off for the tackle when Lavery kicked Mr Hill in the face.
Mr Tannahill said that those who saw the kick described Lavery “planting his foot and kicking the other man’s head as if he was taking a kick in the game”.
It was during the ensuing me- lee, as players from both teams rushed to the incident and tried to restrain Lavery, that he grabbed the referee by the shirt and “punched him in the face”.
After the game Mr Hill was taken to hospital, where he received eight stitches to lacerations above and below his right eye.
A X-ray also revealed a fracture, that has left him with a “slight depression” on his face.
During police questioning Lavery denied intentionally kicking him, claiming instead that as he jumped over Mr Hill in the ground, his foot or knee may have accidentally struck him.
Mr Tannahill revealed this was not the first time Lavery had assaulted an opponent.
In 2009 Lavery was playing for Lurgan Celtic against the PSNI at New Forge when, after the final whistle, he punched a PSNI player in the face causing his nose to bleed and leaving him with two black eyes.
Lavery was given a police caution after he accepted causing actual bodily harm, said the lawyer.
Defence barrister Barry McKenna conceded the incident was “an appalling and disgraceful thing to do” and for which Lavery is “truly sorry”.
During his sentencing remarks, Judge Lynch said Lavery’s “shouting and cursing” following his penalty miss “indicates to me a violent temper which is over and above the ordinary response to a sporting setback”.
He told Lavery that his bad tackle, the “cowardly” kick to his opponents head and the assault of the referee indicated to him that this “was a continued and protracted display of bad temper... and I repeat, this behaviour has no place in any form of sporting contest”.
He said, while Mr Hill had made a good recovery, the reaction of his five-year-old son who saw the incident was “more poignant”.
“The boy asked his father on the way back: ‘Is that part of football, are you allowed to kick people in the face?’,” revealed the judge. “That’s the effect people who misbehave in football have, whether in the lower leagues or on TV, they have a profound effect on young people.”
The judge revealed that Lavery was banned from playing football for a year, a punishment that gave him “a sense of surprise at the leniency”, but he warned Lavery that he was considering imposing a violent offences prevention order “to ensure that you will not be on a football field” after release.
Jailing Lavery, the judge adjourned that aspect of the case for further submissions.