Football ban for man who attacked police officer

Dawid Dembler was handed a five-year football ban

A man who kicked a police officer in the back during football disorder outside Villa Park has been banned from attending matches for five years and handed a suspended jail term.

Dawid Dembler, 35, of Anson Road, Walsall, admitted assaulting an emergency worker at a previous hearing at Birmingham Crown Court.

The attack took place during Aston Villa's Uefa Europa Conference League match against Legia Warsaw in November 2023, West Midlands Police said.

The force said the night had involved some of the worst UK football disorder in decades, describing it as "a night of shameful scenes".

Officers said Dember, wearing a mask, had run up behind the officer, attacked him and fled, but other police saw what happened and arrested him.

Six other men are due to stand trial in June next year on charges relating to the violence that night.

Police said "shameful scenes" erupted that night

The force said its officers - together with colleagues from 11 forces - had faced 90 minutes of sustained violence, where flares, missiles, and debris were used as weapons by supporters of the Polish football club.

Five officers were injured and more than 40 people were arrested.

After the match, officers reviewed 700 hours of body-worn camera footage.

Five officers were injured and more than 40 people were arrested

Last Thursday, Dembler was given a football banning order for five years and an 18-week prison sentence suspended for a year.

He was ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and take part in rehabilitation activities.

Det Insp Tom Lyons said: "This was a cowardly attack on an officer who had his back turned as he worked hard to contain a violent crowd of away fans at the Witton Lane coach park gate."

He said quick work by officers nearby had meant Dembler was swiftly identified and arrested.

Initially, police did not know which officer had been attacked because of the volatile situation on the ground, he said.

They discovered it was a West Mercia Police officer after trawling through hundreds of hours of footage.