A drunken Southampton football fan, who barged and shoved a policeman during last season’s away fixture at Crystal Palace, was hit with a court bill of nearly £1,000 last Thursday.
Gregory Brian Bailey, 49, of Drayton Close, Southampton pretended to faint when handcuffed at South London’s Selhurst Park (pictured) after also shouting a torrent of foul-mouthed abuse.
He was fined £250, with £620 costs for assaulting PC James Sears on April 9, fined £100 for being drunk and disorderly and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.
Bailey denied the charges, but was convicted after the officer told Croydon Magistrates’ Court: “He dropped his right shoulder into me and nearly tipped me over a low wall into the Southampton fans.
“He left and started to walk down a twenty foot tunnel under the stand, but turned, looked at me and said: ‘Fuck you’ and waved two fingers in my direction.
“I thought: ‘I’m not having that’ and walked after him and tapped him on the shoulder.
“My intention was to tell him to calm down and tell him he was out of order. I did not want to arrest anyone.
“He looked up at me, said: ‘Fuck you’ and turned away and pushed me away with his arm.”
PC Sears told the court he believed the suspect now needed to be restrained and was concerned about the growing number of Southampton fans gathering under the stand at half-time.
“The man was drunk as well. He was a big man and I did not want him throwing his weight around.
“I placed one of his wrists in handcuffs and he did not like that at all and started struggling.
“A steward then came over and took hold of his other arm and when I handcuffed him he fell limp to the floor.
“We carried him outside and I was concerned he may be suffering a heart attack so I removed the handcuffs and he began flailing his arm about.
“I put the handcuffs back on and again he fell faint. He did not want to be handcuffed.”
The officer denied Bailey’s suggestion that he himself had caused injury to the defendant.
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