Ex-Dundee FC star jailed for bat attack

Former Dundee FC player Declan Gallagher has been jailed for three years for his part in a baseball bat attack on a man outside a Lanarkshire hotel.

The 24-year-old assaulted Steven Findlay at the Parkville Hotel in Blantyre along with his friend Anthony Murray in April 2013.

Both Gallagher and Murray, 29, were found guilty of repeatedly punching and kicking Mr Findlay on the head and body, knocking him to the ground and striking him on the head with a baseball bat or similar implement, to his severe injury and danger of life.

The former Dens Park defender was sentenced to three years at Hamilton Sheriff Court while Murray was sentenced to three years for his part in the attack on Mr Findlay and four months for an assault on the victim’s girlfriend, to be served concurrently.

Gallagher made 60 appearances for the Dark Blues between 2012 and 2014 and was part of the Championshipwinning side.

He had spent the 2014/15 campaign with Livingston but was released from his contract at the end of the season.

But his football career is now on hold after being sentenced to imprisonment.

Gallagher, of Silver Birch Drive, Broughty Ferry, stood shaking in the dock as Sheriff Douglas Brown passed sentence, while friends and family members could be heard sobbing uncontrollably.

“It was never in dispute that what was in charge two was a brutal attack and the only option to deal with it is by a custodial sentence,” Sheriff Brown said.

“There are mitigating circumstances in this case and had it not been for these factors the sentence would have been significantly longer.”

Mr Findlay suffered bleeding on the brain and a fractured skull. He also needed more than 22 staples in his head.

Former Celtic youth star Gallagher had been at a party with his family in April 2013 and had admitted fighting with Mr Findlay but insisted he had not used a weapon.

Gallagher’s lawyer Liam O’Donnell told the court: “He is a low risk of reoffending. He is 24 and is in a stable relationship, and is previously a man of good or very good character who does a lot of good things in the community.

“He is well thought of by his peers and those he comes into contact with.

“He has clearly continued with his good nature and has tried to further his football career.

“It does seem to be a one-off and I would ask you to see it that way.

“He would not trouble the courts again and I ask if he is someone you need to send to jail.”

Mr Findlay, of Coatbridge, had told how he lost his job as a head chef as he struggled to recover from his ordeal.

Declan Gallagher, 24, has received a threeyear sentence for his part in an assault with a baseball bat.