SPIT ‘ASSAULT’ CARRA FACES JAIL!
Cops in probe
SPIT shame Sky Sports football pundit Jamie Carragher could be facing SIX MONTHS in JAIL.
Gobbing on someone in the UK can be classed as a crime – and dismissal for the former Liverpool defender if found guilty of a charge he’s already admitted.
But as spitting is defined as battery under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, it can carry a PRISON sentence, too.
Sky pundit Carragher, 40, was recorded spitting into the face of a 14-year-old girl after Liverpool’s 2-1 Premier League defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Madness
He was filmed gobbing from the window of his Range Rover towards the schoolgirl and her dad who had teased him about the United win from the vehicle.
Carra has admitted to “a moment of madness” and being “totally out of order”.
He has since made a public apology to the family involved.
The former England defender has been suspended by the satellite giant and now faces being prosecuted for the public order offence.
There are also calls for Man United fan Andy Hughes, the dad whose daughter was spat on, to face charges for filming while driving on a motorway while a child was in the car.
Twitter was alight with people criticising both men.
Carragher’s actions have been labelled “vile”, while the driver was condemned as “an utter bellend” by many.
Spitting on someone is classed as battery under the common assault category of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Battery is the application of unlawful force and, as well as spitting, covers incidents of pushing and slapping.
Done deliberately, spitting is seen as an assault.
Common assault carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison and/or a fine or community order.
A prison sentence is generally reserved for cases where serious injury was caused and higher culpability is present.
Goading
The offender will have higher culpability if they have previous convictions or there are aggravating factors – such as the attack being racially motivated, the assault was premeditated, or the victim was vulnerable.
In other cases, a fine and community order is the more likely outcome.
One legal expert said: “I don’t think either of the individuals come out of this looking very well.
“Carragher certainly should not have reacted in the way he did, but then the other man shouldn’t have been driving and filming with his young girl in the car.
“It will all depend on the Crown Prosecution Service, but if you look at it in terms of making an example of someone, then both men could be in trouble.”