Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
JUSTICE FOR SEAN
Roma fan admits attacking dad of three outside Anfield
AN Italian soccer thug who inflicted severe brain injuries on Sean Cox has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Roma supporter Simone Mastrelli, 30, admitted the brutal attack on the Co Meath dad of three outside Anfield last April.
The 53-year-old’s daughter Shauna told a court yesterday: “My dad went to watch his beloved team Liverpool and he never came home.”
THE daughter of Irish Liverpool fan Sean Cox said her dad “never came home” as his attacker was caged yesterday.
The father of three suffered catastrophic brain injuries in an assault ahead of the Champions League tie at Anfield between Liverpool and AS Roma on April 24 last year.
The 53-year-old will need life-long care as he continues his recovery in a rehab centre in Dun Laoghaire.
At Preston Crown Court yesterday, Simone Mastrelli, from Rome, entered a guilty plea to unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Cox. He was jailed for threeand-a-half years.
Shauna Cox entered the witness box to read a victim personal statement as Mastrelli watched from the dock, flanked by an interpreter. She said: “Before this brutal and vicious attack my dad was a fit and confident man, a man of integrity with a huge passion for life who represented everything which is good.
“A mentor, a proud family man with great community spirit.
“This violent and unprovoked attacked left dad in a dire situation. We don’t know how he will progress and that really frightens us.
“Over the past 10 months we have spent all our time at dad’s bedside and have celebrated birthdays and Christmas when all we want is our dad to be home.
“We hope and pray every day to see improvement in our dad. The focus is on getting dad the proper care he needs.
“My dad went to watch his beloved team Liverpool and he never came home.” Asked by Judge Mark Brown how her father was in spirit, she replied: “He definitely has not lost his personality. He is a fighter.”
A separate count of violent disorder was allowed to lie on file by prosecutors after they accepted Mastrelli’s not guilty plea.
The 30-year-old was extradited to the UK last month after being detained on a European Arrest Warrant in his home country.
The judge told him: “There is no doubt in my mind you went to the stadium as a group to sort out the Liverpool supporters and in doing so you have destroyed the life of an innocent man and his family.
“This was on any view a dreadful offence. It has had a profound impact on Mr Cox and his family.”
Another Roma fan, Filippo Lombardi, 21, was cleared of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Cox in October, though he was jailed for three years for violent disorder.
A third man, 29-year-old Daniele Sciusco, from Rome, admitted violent disorder and was jailed for two-and-ahalf years in August.
The court heard Mr Cox was knocked to the ground unconscious by a single punch from Mastrelli after he and his brother Martin had “sadly by pure coincidence” entered the path of a group of Roma’s “Ultra” fans including the defendant.
Footage of the incident in Walton Breck Road, near The Albert pub, was played in court and shows Mastrelli initially aggressively confronting Mr Cox with his arms raised.
Lombardi then comes to the fore
and raises a belt as Mastrelli moves back and, from Mr Cox’s right-hand side, he forcibly punches him to the face.
Prosecutor Keith Sutton said Mastrelli immediately moved away as Mr Cox lay motionless on the ground and checked his face covering was in place as he blended in with a group of Roma fans.
Mastrelli left the scene but later returned to Walton Breck Road and had taken steps to change his appearance by removing his face covering, hood and jacket. He then entered the ground.
He was said to be wearing the recognised “Ultra” uniform of a dark jacket, either black or light blue jeans and black or white footwear.
Mastrelli was already seen to be wearing his face covering – a balaclava – shortly after the group arrived at Lime Street station just before 5.30pm.
They were seen in nearby Hanover Street about 40 minutes later, with a number of them wearing their hoods up with their faces covered, before the group of up to 60 walked to Anfield – with Mastrelli seen at the front.
Shortly afterwards Martin Cox heard “a lot of noise” in Walton Breck Road. He described it as “shouting and chanting but not in a good way”.
Mr Sutton said: “He recalls turning to his brother to discover he was already on the floor.
“He had not seen what happened but, as he attempted to assist him, he too was kicked and fell to the floor.”
Mr Sutton told the court Mr Cox, from Dunboyne, Co Meath, is “unable to communicate his needs, wants or wishes... he is unable to walk and requires assistance with all activities of daily living”.
He added: “The reality is he is unlikely to live independently again.”