SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing Sheriff Andrew McIntyre made the following remarks in court:

"Violence, and football related violence, is a matter of serious concern in the city of Glasgow and the law recognises that such violence is all the worse when it is driven by prejudice related to the victim’s religion or perceived religious affiliation.

Each of you was involved in concerted act of serious violence which involved you acting with other people as part of a group to assault the complainer. As part of the attack the complainer was punched and fell to the ground. Whilst he was on the ground the attack continued and he was repeatedly kicked on the head and body, and he was stamped upon. Such was the ferocity of the attack that he lost consciousness and was seriously injured. To inflict such violence on a person was an inherently dangerous act which posed an obvious danger of the complainer’s life. To make matters worse, during the attack abuse relating to religion was shouted at the complainer.

It is against this background that I must determine the appropriate sentence.

In doing so, I must take account, in respect of each of you, of your personal circumstances. 

In respect of each of you I must take account of the fact that you pled guilty with the result that the case did not require to proceed to trial and the complainer did not require to give evidence. The law recognises that you should be credited for that in the sentence imposed.

I recognise that each of you played a different part in the attack, nonetheless, you are each criminally responsible for the acts of the others in the group because you were all part of a group acting with a common criminal purpose.

On behalf of each of you, your lawyer has pointed to your previous good character and to the positive contributions which you each make. That may be of little comfort to the victim but, in respect of each of you, your lawyer says that your circumstances suggest that there is scope for rehabilitation in the community and little prospect of this happening again.

In respect of each of you I have been urged not to impose a prison sentence and to impose, instead, a sentence in the community such as a Community Payback Order or a Restriction of Liberty Order. 

I must consider each of your circumstances separately, and reach a separate decision in respect of each of you based on your particular circumstances. 

Ben Stanex and Andrew Graham, you are first offenders.

Scott Dragsness, you have a limited criminal record which is of some age and is of a less serious nature. Nonetheless, this is not the first time that you have been convicted of assault and your record includes other convictions for disorderly behaviour.

Ben Stanex and Andrew Graham you are both under the age of 25 which means that, when selecting a sentence, I must consider Guidelines on sentencing young people. Those guidelines provide that where appropriate, the court should seek to rehabilitate a young offender. However, the guidelines also make clear that the full range of sentencing options remains open to the court. A custodial sentence should only be imposed on a young person when the court is satisfied that no other sentence is appropriate, and, if a custodial sentence is imposed, it should be shorter than that which would have been imposed on an older person for the same offence.

In this case, in respect of each of you, I recognised that much has been said in your favour and that none of you has a history of violence, or violence of this nature. I have concluded however, that only a prison sentence can mark the seriousness of this crime. I am satisfied that no other sentence is appropriate. 

I have concluded that prison sentences are necessary to protect the public by deterring further such offending in the future. Having regard to the nature and extent of the violence, I have concluded that community sentences would be wholly inadequate. Indeed, I consider that to impose community sentences in these cases would fail to reflect the seriousness of the crime or the community’s disapproval sectarian, football related violence. Such a sentence would, in my view, fail adequately to deter others from such conduct and would thereby undermine the safety of the public for whom this kind of conduct is a significant threat. 

I do, however, recognise and take full account of your good character, and I do so by limiting the periods of imprisonment which I have selected to the greatest extent possible having regard to the nature of the violence involved.

The sentences

The sentences will be as follows:

Scott Dragsness, you have a previous conviction for violence. The sentence will be one of 2 years, 3 months of which is attributable to the religious aggravation. That sentence will be modified to 18 months because you pled guilty at the First Diet.

Ben Stanex and Andrew Graham, neither of you has any previous conviction and I must also take account of your young age. Nonetheless, you chose to engage in an act of serious violence which had serious consequences for the victim. You are fortunate that the consequences were not worse.

In respect of each of you, the sentence will be one of 16 months, 3 months of which is attributable to the aggravation relating to religion. That sentence will be modified to 1 year in light of your early plea of guilty.

These sentences will run from 7 October on which date you were remanded in custody.

Football banning order

In the case of each of you, in light of the nature of the crime and the fact that it was related to a football match, I am satisfied that it is appropriate to impose on you a Football Banning Order for the purpose of preventing violence or disorder at or in connection with football matches.

You are banned from entering any football ground anywhere in the UK for the purposes of attending any football match involving any Scottish Professional Football League club; any English or Welsh League club; any club from the English Conference or any international match in Scotland, England or Wales.

This ban also extends to non-domestic premises in which such matches are being televised and journeys to and from matches.

Further, in relation to any matches in the UK which are part of FIFA or UEFA competitions and in relation to international or club matches outside the UK involving British national or domestic teams, you must report to a police station if required so to do by notice from the police and you must surrender your passport to the police if required.

In respect of each of you, the ban will be for a period of 7 years.

Within five days from today, you must report to the police station specified in the order.

You must also notify Police Scotland, within seven days, of any change of your name, address or passport.

Breach of this order is a separate criminal offence for which you would be liable to prosecution."

28 October 2026