It sounds like a somewhat excessive punishment until the judge who handed down the sentence explains the context of it. Quickly and briefly, one could say that with his decision he intends nip violent incidents in the bud that occur every time one of the hottest derbies on the football planet is played, the one played by the two big Scottish clubs in the city of Glasgow: Celtic and Rangers.
It turns out that next Sunday, December 15, both teams will meet again. And they will do it in a final, that of the Scottish League Cup. Tom Hugheshead of one of the courts of the Glasgow Courthe knows it and this Friday he sent a strong notice in the form of a sentence.
So, Alistair Mackay (53 years old), a Celtic fan, has been sentenced to two years in prison for biting off a piece of Steve Browna 67-year-old retiree. In addition, he is prohibited from entering a football field for the next five years. The violent attack took place more than a year ago, September 3, 2023, just after an ‘Old Firm’ (as the Scottish derby is called) in the League.
That day the Catholics (Celtic) won 0-1 against the Protestants (Rangers) and Mackay, who had watched the game in a pub, was involved in a violent altercation.
According to ‘The Sun’, Tom Hughes described the scene as “a lethal combination of alcohol consumption and mayhem downtown”. He added: “It must be made very clear to sensible people that this is completely and absolutely unacceptable and should not be tolerated in this city.”
He then sent a resounding message to the accused and, incidentally, to all the violent fans: “I am aware that this weekend there will be another match where there may be people harmed, which will cause problems for people like you who have to appear before a judge to receive a serious sentence. Because? For a football game.
Previously, the court had heard the account of the events that occurred: after watching the game while drinking in a pub, Mackay and two friends were walking towards Glasgow central train station when they got into a dispute. fight with ayoung man wearing a Rangers shirt.
Brown, who was also passing by with a companion, witnessed the altercation, wanted to stop the fight and approached to try to get Mackay away. According to prosecutor Jenny Reid, “they both fell to the ground, but Mr Brown did not feel any pain or pressure in his ear at that time. “However, there was no one other than Mackay close enough to him to have caused the damage to his left ear.”
Another witness pulled Mackay away from Brown, who was bleeding profusely. «It looked like he was missing a piece of his ear.» Reid explained. The victim immediately went to a hospital, where “full thickness tissue loss was detected in the left ear, from the helix to the lobe.” After treating the wound, he was discharged the next day.
Meanwhile, Mackay and his friends continued walking towards the station. According to the prosecutor’s account, “on the way, when he passed the Grant Arms pub, He had a piece of Mr. Brown’s ear in his right hand.».
The attack made headlines in the local media, until after a month Mackay decided to turn himself in. He later pleaded guilty to an assault that caused serious injuries and permanent disfigurement to Mr. Brown.
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