The incident took place after Forest had defeated the Blades with a narrow margin of victory to go to the final and be one win away from promotion back to the Premier League.
Robert Biggs, a resident of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and holder of a Forest season ticket, is guilty of committing an attack that resulted in real bodily injury. Because of the cut he received to his lip, Sharp needed four stitches to close the wound.
On Thursday, he was given a prison sentence of twenty-four weeks by the Magistrates’ Court in Nottingham.
What did the prosecutor say bout the Billy Sharp incident?
According to the prosecutor, Marianne Connally, the event was captured on video by crews working on the championship semi-final broadcast on live television.
She said this to the court: “A significant number of spectators invaded the playing area. Mr. Sharp hadn’t taken part in the game in any immediately relevant way. It seems as if he is standing there with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Mr. Biggs can be seen running down the pitch, After that, he gives Mr. Sharp a headbutt. The evidence put out by the Crown is that this was a premeditated and pointless act of violence.”
Biggs was taken into prison before his court appearance. But he did not object to the hearing over an application for a football ban order.
He was informed that a supplementary allegation of unlawfully invading the playing area would not proceed against him.
District Judge’s statement:
During the sentencing, District Judge Grace Leong said, “The videotape shows me that you were sprinting towards Billy Sharp and that you evaded all of the other onlookers to get closer to him. Even if it wasn’t planned ahead of time, in my opinion, it was still a calculated act of violence. It was directed against a specific target. You must have seen him trip and fall, but you did not stop to see if he was okay or if he had suffered any major injuries.”
It was said that he and his girlfriend would be unable to keep up with monthly mortgage obligations if he were to go to prison, so it was requested that the court give Biggs a term of probation or a suspended sentence instead.
However, the court said that there must be some measure of deterrence because of the severity of the crime and the fact that thousands of people were there to watch it.
The court also said that the assault had the potential to “give rise to additional instances.”
According to the counsel for the defense, Rachel Gowans, Biggs turned himself into the police early on Wednesday morning after seeing video evidence of the incident posted on social media.
She said in front of the judge that Biggs had consumed “an amount of alcohol” at a tavern located next to the City Ground. He “simply followed” two companions onto the field.
“He admits that in effect, he got carried away at the moment, as did a lot of individuals. His primary objective was to reach the tunnel as quickly as possible. He distinctly recalls sprinting towards the players. But to the left of Billy Sharp, gazing at the audience. Then colliding head-on with another individual. He acknowledges that he made contact with the right cheek of the player during the collision. It is not directed at the player specifically,” Ms. Gowans said.
