Former Aberdeen player Funso Ojo has been fined £420 after he assaulted a Dundee United fan who goaded him about getting sent off at Tannadice.
Ojo pushed Donald Dewar and knocked the glasses off before punching him in self-defence during the confrontation in a players’ stairwell at the stadium.
The 31-year-old stood trial at Dundee Justice of the Peace Court today accused of injuring Mr Dewar by assaulting him.
During the trial, Dewar said he had attended Tannadice to see his side beat Aberdeen 1-0 in controversial circumstances and was among a party of ten attending hospitality for a friend’s 50th birthday.
At full-time, he left the stadium to find a friend before returning into the Jerry Kerr Stand via the players’ entrance.
There, the friends passed Ojo, who had been shown a contentious second yellow card after being attacked by a Dundee United fan in the first half.
Mr Dewar told the court his friend made a remark to the Belgian player which he considered to be “banter” as they passed him signing autographs.
He then made a comment himself.
The 50-year-old went upstairs to return to the hospitality suite after the jibes but was followed by Ojo, who now plays for Port Vale.
Security footage shown to the court showed Ojo walking upstairs but the altercation took place out of view of cameras.
Mr Dewar, who said he had had beer and wine with his pre-match meal, told the court: “Mr Ojo said ‘what did you say’.
“He then came running up the stairs at me.
“He came towards me. I thought he wasn’t going to do anything.”
Team-mate arrived
The role of peacemaker fell to fellow Don Connor McLennan – now at St Johnstone on loan – who followed Ojo upstairs and managed to wedge his body between his teammate and Mr Dewar.
Mr McLennan, 23, said he saw Ojo and Mr Dewar “face-to-face” and tried to defuse the situation.
After the altercation, Mr Dewar was briefly arrested and spent half an hour in the back of a police van.
He said: “The next thing that happened is the stewards were surrounding me.”
Giving evidence, police inspector Paul Haig said he saw Mr Dewar had a “bloody mouth” when he was being led to a police van in handcuffs and began looking for the glasses he was “fixated” on finding.
Aberdeen legend Neil Simpson, 60, who now works as the Dons’ Pathways Manager working with young players out on loan, told the court that while he was in the foyer, he saw Mr Dewar “resisting arrest” and being aggressive.
The Gothenburg Great, who scored the Dons’ opening goal against Bayern Munich in the European Cup Winner’s Cup quarter-final second leg in March 1983, ushered Ojo and Mr McLennan into an alcove out of the way while police intervened.
Accused’s evidence
In the witness box, Ojo said he initially believed Mr Dewar was a journalist asking him a question, as the remark was made in a restricted “red zone” created to adhere to pandemic restrictions.
He said: “I was already showered and waiting.
“Everyone was disappointed and angry because we’d lost that game.
“I took a few steps outside because there were some Aberdeen fans and I spoke to a fan who asked for a shirt for his son.
“I said I’ll go back inside and check with the kitman.
“When I went back in, I heard someone talking to me but I couldn’t really make out what that person was saying.
“I thought he was a journalist – it was a red zone.
“He said something like ‘you must be sh*te getting sent off by a Dundee United fan’.
“At that point, I realised it isn’t a journalist.
“I then replied ‘would you say that if you were right in front of me?’
“What I heard was ‘come up then.'”
Ojo said he climbed to a landing, faced Mr Dewar and knocked off his glasses.
He said the two began pushing and Mr Dewar stumbled to the ground.
“I remember thinking surely this is it, that’s it done,” Ojo said.
“He got up and came straight back at me. Connor was trying to urge me back.
“I landed a punch with my right hand on his face.
“In the moment I felt it was a me or him situation.”
Ojo explained he had his back to a flight of 10 stairs and thought he was going to be assaulted if he didn’t react.
Being cross-examined, he told fiscal depute Lee Corr that he didn’t think Mr Dewar was drunk.
“That’s not really something that happens to professional footballers after a game,” he added.
Ojo denied that he was still furious about whistler Bobby Madden showing him a second yellow card after he was assaulted by a fan, and said his teammates were no longer angry at him by the end of the game.
“I was actually quite proud of how I handled the situation. I just wanted to get home,” he said.
“I was mostly angry at how the situation had happened. The referee, he changed his match report. In the match report, he said my second booking was for leaving the pitch.”
Ojo was found guilty of a reduced charge of assaulting Mr Dewar by pushing him once and knocking off his glasses. Allegations Mr Dewar was injured were dropped.
Defending, solicitor advocate Murray Macara KC asked for his client to be admonished.
Justice of the Peace Andrew Gourlay fined the first offender, who now lives in Cheshire, £420. This must be paid in 28 days.
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