06 June 2024 , 10:20
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Roy Keane admits he "stepped back from football to reflect on what happened" in a victim impact statement as the Arsenal fan who headbutted him was found guilty.
The incident took place at the Emirates last year during a match between Arsenal and Keane's ex-team Manchester United. Dad-of-two Scott Law, 43, was handed a football banning order after he was convicted of headbutting the Irishman.
District Judge Angus Hamilton made him the subject of strict restrictions, blocking his access to UK football grounds and hitting him with a 80-hour community order and ordered him to pay £650 in costs and a £114 victim surcharge during a hearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on Thursday morning.
Law claimed he was “terrified” of Keane and took issue with his account, claiming his actions were not those of someone who feared for his safety. He said: “The incidents that have created [Keane’s] reputation as the ‘hard man of football’ were those that happened years if not decades ago.”
Law also said that Keane had “struck him in the abdomen” as he was restrained by Micah Richards, who leapt to Keane's defence, but Mr Hamilton said “no other person saw this happen and there’s no evidence of this happening”. He added: “This assault didn’t occur… I conclude that he is being untruthful and he didn’t behave in the manner alleged.”
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Richards told the court Law had “arched” his head before headbutting Keane during the game at the Emirates last year, before the Sky Sports pundit “took hold of Mr Law and remonstrated with him”.
Law’s legal team had said that “football is his life and so in many ways this will be the biggest punishment for him”.
Scott Law was found guilty of the offence (PA)Keane previously told the court he was "absolutely not expecting it" as he and Richards were walking to broadcast their full-time match analysis. Kevin Christie, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This gratuitous and senseless act of violence was completely unacceptable.
“When anyone attends a football match, either to work or to support a team, they should be able to feel safe and secure in that environment."
The Irishman previously told the court: “There was lots of noise and shouting, as you would expect at a football match. I was just walking and, before I knew it, I was hit. I felt the contact and fell back through some doors. I was absolutely not expecting it. The only way I can describe it is that I was in shock. I didn’t expect it to happen, not when I was in my workplace.”
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