Fan jailed after player headbutt
He gets 6 months for attack seen by thousands on TV
A FOOTBALL fan who headbutted a player from the opposing team during a pitch invasion has been jailed for six months.
Tens of thousands of horrified TV viewers saw the attack which left Sheffield United captain Billy Sharp needing four stitches.
It followed Nottingham Forest’s penalty shoot-out win in the Championship play-off semi-finals on Tuesday night.
Yesterday Robert Biggs, 30, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm at Forest’s City Ground.
Jailing him and imposing a 10-year ban from entering a football stadium, District Judge Grace Leong said: “The clip I have seen proves to me you were running towards Mr Sharp. This was a targeted moment of aggression.
“You must have seen him fall but you didn’t stop to see if he was all right or check if he was injured.
“This is so serious that a custodial sentence must be imposed.
“Given the gravity of this offence, where thousands witnessed it, there must be an element of deterrent.
“You headbutted Mr Sharp who was looking elsewhere and could not take any avoiding action. He was left in shock and his lip had to be stitched.”
Nottingham magistrates court was told Biggs, who earns £55,000 a year as an electrical engineer, had been drinking before the game and “got carried away”.
He claimed he had not targeted Sharp, who was not playing because of injury, but was running towards Forest players when his head connected with the player’s cheek.
But Prosecutor Marianne Connally said: “Biggs can be seen running along the pitch, not with the other supporters, towards where Mr Sharp was standing and headbutts him.”
Rachel Gowans, defending, said Forest fan Biggs handed himself in after seeing footage of the attack on social media.
She added: “He’s been a fan for 25 years. He follows them home and away and has been a season ticket holder along with his father and sister. Emotions were high as it went to penalties. All the crowd just ran onto the pitch. He accepts that he should not have.”
Biggs, of Ilkeston, Derbys, was also ordered to pay compensation of £500, a victim surcharge of £128 and £85 costs.
Forest, who secured a Wembley play-off final with Huddersfield by beating United 3-2 on penalties following a 3-3 aggregate draw, has vowed to ban Biggs for life.
Sharp, who used to play for Forest, wrote on social media: “One mindless idiot ruined what was an unbelievable night of football.”
This was a targeted aggression and custody must be imposed
JUDGE GRACE LEONG IN COURT YESTERDAY