A Derbyshire man has been jailed for a cowardly attack on the Sheffield United football captain.
Robert Biggs, 30, of Church View, Ilkeston, admitted a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 19th May 2022.
ABH, an offence contrary to section 47 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, has a maximum penalty of 52 weeks' custody on summary conviction; 7 years' custody on conviction on indictment.
The court heard that Biggs, a lifelong Nottingham Forest fan, attended The Reds' Championship clash against The Blades at the City Ground on the evening of Tuesday, 17th May 2022.
The match went to extra time and penalties, with Forest sneaking the win to secure a place in next weekend's Championship play-off final at Wembley.
Fans flooded onto the pitch at the end of the match. Television cameras captured the moment Biggs launched head first into Blades' captain Billy Sharp, as he stood watching from the sideline.
Marianne Connally, prosecuting, said: "A large number of fans entered the field of play.
"Mr Sharp hadn't directly participated in the game. He appears to be standing with his hands in his pockets.
"Mr Biggs can be seen to run along the pitch. He then headbutts Mr Sharp.
"The Crown's case is that this is a deliberate and senseless act of violence."
The unprovoked attack left Mr Sharp with a split lip, which required stitching by the club doctor.
Biggs saw footage of the incident on social media and turned himself into the police.
Rachel Gowans, mitigating, said her client had been drinking "which clearly affected his judgement".
Should the £55,000-a-year electrical engineer be jailed, Miss Gowans said, then his family would struggle to keep up their £1,000 per month mortgage payments and their home would be at risk.
Having considered the circumstances, District Judge Grace Leong was firmly of the opinion that Biggs' offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate.
Addressing him, the Judge said: "The video played in court proved to me that you were running towards Billy Sharp and that you dodged all the other spectators to get towards him.
"I am of the view it was a targeted act of aggression, even if momentary at the time and not premeditated.
"Given the gravity of this offence committed when there were thousands present to witness it and potentially could have given a rise to further incidents, there has to be an element of deterrence and it must be a custodial sentence."
Biggs was sentenced to 24 weeks' immediate custody.
He was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation to Mr Sharp, £85 towards prosecution costs and £128 surcharge.
Additionally, the Judge made an order under section 14A of the Football Spectators Act 1989, prohibiting Biggs from attending regulated football matches for a period of 10 years.
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