The courts have wasted no time in dealing with Aaron Cawley after Friday night’s attack on Chris Kirkland during our visit to Sheffield Wednesday, and Leeds have already promised to ban him for life.
Cawley is a thug who Leeds have imported from Cheltenham, and even before Friday night he had received two football banning orders, which he had breached four times. After being named on the internet over the weekend he was arrested by Gloucestershire Police, and brought to stand trial at Sheffield Magistrates Court today.
He pleaded guilty to the offence (not that he could do otherwise when the whole incident had been captured on video) which meant that the court was able to sentence him straight away, and he received an immediate four month prison sentence and a five year banning order from football.
The prosecutor said Cawley told police he was so drunk he could not remember the incident, and only realised what he had done when other people told him and then he saw himself on TV. He had drunk a number of cans of Stella Artois lager on Friday morning, followed by three-quarters of a litre of vodka - all before he got to Sheffield by train. This was then washed down by “a further seven to 10 pints of cider” once he was in Sheffield.
If he was that pissed it’s a wonder that the why landlords in Sheffield pubs continue to serve him, and that the stewards outside Hillsborough let him into the stadium. His solicitor denied that he had been bragging about his exploits on Facebook over the weekend and said he had e-mailed an apology, but this cut no ice with the judge, who duly sentenced him to four months inside.
And as soon as he was convicted, Leeds put a statement on the official club website. "We are pleased to see the matter dealt with by the courts so quickly. We note that he has been given a 16-week jail sentence and a five-year banning order. The club will also ban the individual for life from Elland Road when this banning order expires.
While we are pleased to see justice brought so quickly, our one disappointment is that we feel the sentence could, and should, have been considerably longer. The club continue to assist the authorities following Friday night's game”