European Super League Protests – Client Avoids Prison

Case study summary

Our client accepted that he had been caught up in the violence outside the Old Trafford football grounds in response to the proposed European Super League. Given his criminal record, he was at risk of a prison sentence. Our well-prepared mitigation meant he avoided custody.

Case study

Our client was a family man, he was the main breadwinner supporting his wife and young child. Without his support, his wife would have struggled to pay the mortgage and childcare costs.

However, our client also had previous convictions for violent offences. When he was charged with violent disorder, after attending European Super League Protests, he was at a real risk of a prison sentence so contacted our specialist criminal lawyers.

Our client was a keen football supporter, who had attended the European Super League Protests intending to join the peaceful protests. However, the protests soon deteriorated into violence and was very well documented in the media at the time:

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/12755457/man-utd-protest-police-release-new-video-as-fans-are-sentenced-for-violent-old-trafford-protest-in-may-2021

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62636433

Fuelled by alcohol and adrenaline, our client made the regrettable choice to participate in the violence and there was overwhelming video evidence of his actions.

There had been significant speculation that the courts were likely to pass heavy deterrent sentences to deter others from this conduct in the future. To keep our client out of prison, we had to show that this would have an awful impact on his young family and that it would be wholly wrong to make an example out of him.

We did this by gathering evidence of the impact his imprisonment would have on others and obtaining positive reports form the client’s former offender managers. We also hand-selected an experienced barrister, who used the information we had gathered to convince the court that our client could be punished in the community without hurting people who were not involved in his criminality.

As a result of both our careful preparation and the barrister's compelling speech, the court agreed to give our client a suspended sentence. His family was very relieved, and he has been able to carry on providing for them.