Leeds United fan who claimed strangling female steward was 'banter' receives football banning order
A Leeds United fan who strangled a female steward after a match and passed it off as a “banter” has received his sentence.
Carl O’Brien, 50, put his hand around the woman’s throat and squeezed it after a match on April 4 last year. She asked him to get off three times before she removed the hand herself.
O’Brien, of Navigation Road in York, was arrested and charged with intentional strangulation. The 50-year-old denied the offence, but was found guilty after a trial.
At a previous hearing, the court heard that O’Brien left the South Stand at Elland Road after the Whites won 2-1 against Nottingham Forest.
The steward was talking to others who were causing a nuisance when O’Brien “approached her, placed his right hand around her throat and began to squeeze”.
The victim suffered from “reddening and a sore throat”.
O’Brien, who had been drinking, was said to have been slurring his words and unsteady on his feet.
During the trial O’Brien argued the incident was “good natured and verging on banter”. He said he was “giving her a hug and that it was friendly”.
Mitigating, Mike Walsh said that while there was a threat, he suggested this was less significant than it may be in other situations concerning intentional strangulation, including incidents of domestic violence.
Recorder Ayesha Smart previously deferred the sentencing for six months to decide whether or not O’Brien should go to prison.
In the meantime, he was issued with a football banning order that prevented him from approaching Elland Road or the train station when games are played. He was also told to pay £500 in compensation to the steward.
At a follow-up sentencing hearing on Friday (May 31), the court heard that O’Brien had kept to the conditions of the order
Sentencing O’Brien, Recorder Smart said the steward was “just doing her job at Elland Road when she had the misfortune of meeting you”.
She said she didn’t “believe for one instance” that the incident was “good natured banter”.
A pre-sentence report showed that O’Brien - who has previous convictions for violence and public order offences - continued to deny the offence and showed “no remorse for your actions”.
However, Recorder Smart said that in the last six months O’Brien had abided by the football banning order and paid the compensation to the victim and that this worked in his favour.
She sentenced him to 20 months in prison and suspended it for 18 months, adding: “Don’t commit any more offences or you will be brought before the court and this sentence will be activated.”
He was also ordered to carry 18 rehabilitation activity days and do 120 hours of unpaid work.
The football banning order was also extended for a further three years.