Bulwell man given suspended sentence for involvement in Notts County v Sheffield Wednesday football violence

Paul Simon Webster (46), of Rowe Gardens, received an eight-month jail term, suspended for 18 months.

He is also required to perform 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £200 in costs.

The fight, which occured after the Notts County v Sheffield Wednesday fixture on 17th March 2012, involved 19 men and broke out at 6.30pm at Squares, in The Poultry.

The brawl began after some of the Sheffield Wednesday fans attacked another group.

Along with punches, plastic glasses and furniture were thrown during the fight and innocent members of the public received minor injuries as a result.

The majority of the culprits fled before police arrived, however, the Force’s Football Intelligence Unit recovered and viewed up to 160 hours of CCTV footage in a bid to identify those involved. They even scoured the crowd at a later Notts County game where he identified Handley, Rowlett and Moore.

Having reviewed the CCTV, 19 men were identified and officers from the Force’s Tactical Support Group arrested and interviewed them in a joint operation with South Yorkshire Police.

Superintendent Mark Holland, Force-lead for football, said: “In court today were a group of men who needed little excuse for violence.

“Many of them barely had time to get into the city and buy their first drink before they were fighting. While there was clear provocation from the Sheffield group, the Nottingham men used violence that went far beyond what would have been deemed as reasonable defence of themselves.

“This should be a lesson to anyone who thinks any type of violence is acceptable. It isn’t — certainly not in a busy pub — and you will be prosecuted. If you are a football fan we will also seek to ban you from games.

“Thankfully the pub used plastic glasses and fortunately no one was seriously hurt. We work very closely with licensed premises and it is now standard practice that they serve drinks in plastic glasses before, during and after the football.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to remind people of the dangers of throwing even a single punch. One punch can kill and there are a number of Nottinghamshire men in jail as I speak for such a crime.

“Drink responsibly and avoid confrontations at all costs. Don’t let a night out end in a serious injury or death on your conscience and a large chunk of your life in jail.”