A footballer who broke a rival’s jaw and knocked him out during an on-field bust-up has been ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
Michael Pattie was allowed to walk free from Dundee Sheriff Court – despite having admitted stamping on his victim’s head during the confrontation and leaving him with a severe concussion.
Pattie, 29, of Americanmuir Road, who has been banned from playing football since the incident, was also placed under social work supervision for two years.
Fiscal depute Laura Bruce told the court Pattie was playing as goalkeeper in an amateur friendly match when he carried out the attack on rival player Barry Goodall.
‘I’ll stab the lot of you’
There had been an initial confrontation when Mr Goodall was waiting for a teammate to take a penalty against Pattie and the jibes continued for several minutes.
“Pattie was heard saying: ‘I’ll take you on, I’ll stab the lot of you. You’ll be getting slashed. You’ll never say I’m s*** in goal ever again’,” said Ms Bruce.
She said Mr Goodall later scored a goal and celebrated by standing in front of the accused with his arms spread out wide. Ten minutes later his team won a corner.
As the ball was crossed into the box, there was a melee and Pattie clambered past a couple of players to stamp on Mr Goodall while he was on the ground.
Ms Bruce added: “This rendered him unconscious. He was assisted by a doctor and was later found to have suffered a fractured jaw, and a 5cm cut to the right side of his head.
“The laceration was between the crown and his ear and had to be glued.”
Pattie pleaded guilty to assaulting the man at the football pitches on Riverside Drive on July 21 2019 by stamping on his head and rendering him unconscious to his severe injury.
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown said: “In light of the nature of this offence – stamping on someone’s head – custody is obviously an option.”
However, she said she would follow the recommendation put forward by social workers and instead sentence Pattie to unpaid work as an alternative to custody.
Throughout the duration of the case, Pattie had been on bail with special conditions preventing him from attending or taking part in any amateur football match in Scotland.
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