Football fan handed ban for slapping Grimsby Town player

A Bury FC fan who slapped a Grimsby Town player in the face during a game has received a three-year ban from attending football matches.
Stefan Camps, a Bury FC fan who slapped a Grimsby Town player in the face during a game, who has received a three-year ban from attending football matches.Stefan Camps, a Bury FC fan who slapped a Grimsby Town player in the face during a game, who has received a three-year ban from attending football matches.
Stefan Camps, a Bury FC fan who slapped a Grimsby Town player in the face during a game, who has received a three-year ban from attending football matches.

Stefan Camps, 30, assaulted footballer Charles Vernam after he slid off the playing area at Bury's Gigg Lane ground after going in for tackle at the League Two fixture on September 8.

Camps casually strolled back to his seat in the South Stand after he delivered the slap from behind to the former Derby County striker.

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The incident was included in the referee's match report and referred to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) for investigation.

The defendant, of Cuckoo Lane, Bury, appeared at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Thursday after he admitted section 39 assault.

He was given a 13-month community order, with a curfew requirement, and has also been banned for life by Bury FC from attending home games, GMP said.

PC Rob Smith, GMP's liaison officer for Bury FC, said: "Violence has no place at football matches and anyone found committing such offences will be dealt with appropriately.

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"Whilst we appreciate that football can evoke passion and emotion from fans watching a game, it does not give you an excuse to behave irrationally and assault another person.

"Stefan Camps is a grown man and is ultimately responsible for his own actions.

"Those actions now mean that he can't go and watch his team, or any other side, in person in the UK for the next three years."