Neil Lennon has been left disheartened and confused by the acquittal of the football fan accused of attacking him at a match in front of millions of people, Celtic's chief executive has claimed.
Peter Lawwell described the jury’s decision to clear John Wilson, 26, of a sectarian assault during a match against Hearts, as “another body blow” to the Celtic manager after a season in which he had to be given protection when he was subjected to death threats.
Wilson was also found not guilty of making a sectarian comment during the incident.
Celtic are incensed by the not proven verdict on the assault charge, which claimed the unemployed labourer lunged at Lennon and struck him on the head during a televised game at Tynecastle Stadium in Edinburgh on May 11.
Mr Lawwell said yesterday: “I think most people would be baffled and find it difficult to comprehend the verdict.
“There is also a human issue here and I think we need to think about Neil Lennon at this point and the human consequences.
“He was left pretty disheartened, pretty confused, and we have to try and rebuild him and support him after another body blow. I would like to think that right-minded people would join us in that.”
Mr Lawwell added: “Celtic has been an inclusive, diverse club, open to all since its foundation and that is something we are extremely proud of and maintain today as one of the key values of Celtic.”
He was speaking at the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden, where former prime minister Gordon Brown was named as the new patron of the John Thomson Memorial Committee.
It marks the 80th anniversary of the Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper’s death after an accidental clash during an Old Firm game.
Mr Brown said he had every sympathy with Lennon and what had happened to him was “very sad”. Although he declined to comment on the verdict, claiming it was unwise for politicians to second-guess juries, Mr Brown said of the issue of sectarianism: “If the message can be sent out from John Thomson’s life that religious divides can be bridged easily when people have the will to do so, then that is a message that is relevant today.”
It came as a senior law officer defended the decision to include a sectarian clause in the prosecution of Wilson.
The Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland, said that the Crown made the right choice to include sectarianism in the charges.
He claimed there was evidence regarded as “credible and reliable” to indicate the alleged offence was aggravated by religious prejudice.
Mr Mulholland said: “The Crown takes all forms of hate crime very seriously. Our decision to prosecute John Wilson for alleged sectarian remarks was the right one.
“We respect the decision of the jury but will continue to prosecute as a hate crime any offence where there is a sufficiency of evidence.
“In the case against John Wilson there was evidence which was capable of being regarded as credible and reliable from a witness who attributed a sectarian remark to Mr Wilson at the time of the incident.”
Jurors at Edinburgh Sheriff Court returned a verdict of not proven on the assault charge on Wednesday, but convicted Wilson of breach of the peace.
They also deleted a sectarian element to the breach of the peace charge.
Paul McBride, QC, a Celtic fan who has represented Lennon previously, said: “People are saying the Crown may have made a mistake by including the religiously aggravated part of the charge, but he was found guilty of the breach of the peace under deletion of that and jurors could have done the same in the assault. I don’t see that there was anything more that the Crown could have done.
However, solicitor advocate John Scott, QC, said: “Every once in a while there’s a jury verdict which appears as though it is contrary to the evidence. But the jury has seen and heard all the evidence for themselves.”
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