THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SHEFFIELD, England — A football hooligan was jailed for 16 weeks Monday for assaulting a goalkeeper during an English league game following an all-day drinking binge.
Aaron Cawley, a 21-year-old from Cheltenham, told police he was so intoxicated after drinking a mix of lager, cider and vodka that he doesn’t remember joining a pitch invasion and shoving former England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland in the face during Sheffield Wednesday’s match against Leeds on Friday.
Cawley, an unemployed labourer who has received two banning orders in the past, pleaded guilty Monday to charges of assault and entering the field of play when he appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court.
Kirkland, who plays for Wednesday and won his one cap for England in 2006, needed medical treatment after being knocked to the ground by Cawley amid violent scenes at Hillsborough, which was all broadcast live on British television. Kirkland told police it was like he had been "hit by a ton of bricks."
The Football Association has launched an investigation into the crowd trouble at the game, which also saw bottles being thrown onto the pitch and offensive chanting from both sets of fans.
Prosecutors said Cawley, a Leeds fan, told police officers he had consumed several cans of lager and three-quarters of a litre of vodka before he had arrived in Sheffield by train. He said he then drank as many as 10 pints of cider before the match started.
Judge Naomi Redhouse was told that Cawley, who has breached his football banning orders four times, only realized what he had done when other people told him and he saw himself on TV. He immediately made contact with police.
Cawley will be given another banning order — probably around five years, according to the judge.