VILLAIN DEAN TURNS GOOD SAMARITAN

BRENTFORD defender Harlee Dean went from villain to hero when he rushed to the aid of a young fan hit by a car outside Griffin Park on Saturday.

Dean, sent off in his side’s 2-1 home victory against Nottingham Forest (above), was walking home from the match when he heard a Brentford supporter — Ted Starkey — struck outside the Princess Royal pub close to the ground.

Dean sprinted back to the home dressingroom to summon Dr Matt Stri de, who looked after the boy until an ambulance arrived. The youngster’s new Brentford kit had to be cut off him so he could be treated but he was stabilised and taken to hospital, the club said. He i s now at home recovering.

Dean told Sportsmail: ‘I was just walking home as that is my route and saw a few fans outside the pub. Suddenly there was a screech and then a bang, followed by the sound of the kid crying. I saw the child on the floor and sprinted back to the ground. The Forest team were boarding their coach and I shouted, “Is there a doctor on board?” But t hey didn’t travel with one.

‘So I ran back and got our doctor, Matt, who ran back with me and attended to him. I just wanted to check he was OK. I hear he’s now out of hospital and is hopefully comi ng to the training ground on Thursday.’

During the match, Dean was shown a red card after a scuffle with Forest’s Jonathan Williams, but Brentford went on to win.

Dean added: ‘It was an eventful afternoon. This took my mind of my problems, there are more important things than football matches.’

A police spokesperson said: ‘A car hit a child pedestrian near to Brentford’s ground on Saturday at 5.27pm. The child was taken to hospital for treatment. No arrest was made.’