Referee's Assailant Receives Jail Time
A footballer lays hands on a referee during a district league game, causing significant harm. His solicitor mentions early life trauma, but the court confirms the sentence. This outcome remains the same in the appeal.
During a match between SG Bettmar/Dinklar and FC Concordia Hildesheim II in August 2022, a violent incident takes place: After a yellow card, a Hildesheim player loses his cool and punches the referee, Geoffrey May, in the face. May sustains a severe eye injury and a fractured nasal bone, and is admitted to the hospital for an extended period.
The culprit must now serve time behind bars. During the appeal hearing, the perpetrator receives a one-year and eight-month prison term without the possibility of parole - no "last chance" for the habitual lawbreaker. The defense pleaded for one, but the court turns it down. However, two months from the first trial are deducted from the amateur footballer's sentence.
The 33-year-old, who was already under the supervision of the probation service at the time, approached the referee in a "belligerent, threatening, and agitated" manner, as Judge Malte Worlitz states in the judgment. He then struck him. "There were smaller fouls, trivial annoyances, nothing extraordinary," May recalls of the game in the Kreisklasse in an interview with ntv.de. One player from the away team stands out. May rebukes him, instructs him, then suggests a substitution. But the player does not react.
"I had to give him a yellow-red card. He wanted to headbutt me, which I managed to dodge, but then I just felt a sharp pain," May recollects. "At some point, I must have fallen to the ground. The authorities called an ambulance and the police." The match is halted. The head of referees in the district remarks in the "Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung": "I have never witnessed such brutality with these outcomes in my 30 years as a referee and chairman."
The punch itself is not contested, but the defendant's legal team tried to minimize the situation earlier, asserting that the referee had first "grabbed" the perpetrator, possibly to prevent a headbutt. This, they argue, had set off a childhood trauma in the perpetrator, who grew up in an environment of violence - and consequently "slipped into a psychological emergency situation." This had resulted in a loss of control, "it was a situation of self-defense."
Nevertheless, the court rejected this perspective. "Regardless of whether the referee could have behaved better in every situation of this fiery match, this does not justify hitting him." The perpetrator lamented not having a "last chance," claiming, "I ask you to please reconsider the parole." Notwithstanding his previous probation, the footballer had been dismissed from his team immediately following the occurrence and barred from playing for a year by the sports court. The defendant's criminal record contains 16 entries, including assault, drug offenses, and thievery.
May, who acknowledged in a post-incident talk with ntv.de that he wouldn't apologize as the assailant showed an alarming level of brutality on the football field and thus had no foundation for contrition, later apologized "sincerely, albeit informally," according to the court. Nonetheless, the amateur football player must go to prison: "The accused continuously perpetrated acts of violence over a duration of two years and has not dealt with his poor temperament." It remains to be seen if the defendant will lodge an appeal against the verdict, says his legal representative.
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Following the violent incident, the football community expresses concern over increasing violence in soccer. Despite the player's assertion of self-defense due to past trauma, the court views the assault as unjustifiable.
Despite the intense pressure and minor misconducts during the game, no such violent outburst should occur on the soccer field. The Hildesheim team's training sessions must now incorporate lessons on controlling emotions and avoiding aggression.
Source: www.ntv.de
