Coin throwing fan a 'drunken lunatic'
An Aston Villa football supporter who admitted throwing a coin which struck a linesman on the head during a Premiership match behaved "like a stupid, drunken lunatic", a magistrate said.
John Billington, of Great Barr, was fined £2,300 and given a five-year football banning order after pleading guilty to a single count of battery at Birmingham Magistrates Court.
The 43-year-old managing director of an engineering firm had already been banned from Villa Park for life, the court heard.
The married father-of-two, of Beechey Close, threw a 50p piece which hit referee's assistant Phil Sharp during Villa's 0-0 draw with Portsmouth on October 18.
Jonathan Purser, prosecuting, said Billington, a season ticket holder since 1977, had drunk six pints of beer before the match.
Mr Sharp was left with a small cut to his head after the coin struck him in the second half of the game.
Harman Bal, defending, said his client was "ashamed" and wished to apologise to Mr Sharp, the club and its supporters.
He added: "He believes he has let his team and the supporters down. This is a man who has been a season ticket holder for 30 years. He will not be able to go to a football match again which is a punishment in itself."
He said that Mr Billington's children had been teased and taunted that their father was a "thug".
Sentencing Billington yesterday, chairman of the bench Dr Ann Morrison, said magistrates had decided against a community order.
She said: "There can be no excuse for an assault on an official doing their duty.
"Your biggest penalty is the fact that you now have a serious criminal record.
"A man of 43 should know better than to drink six pints on an empty stomach.
"You behaved like a stupid, drunken lunatic."
Billington was also ordered to pay £250 compensation to Mr Sharp, £87 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
