A football fan who left his own player with a severe injury after throwing part of a seat during a Scottish Premiership match has been jailed for 18 months. David Gowans, 31, threw the projectile onto the pitch after a league match between Dundee United and Aberdeen at Tannadice on 17 May.
The seat struck Aberdeen's Jack MacKenzie, who had gone to thank travelling fans for their support. The defender, now with Plymouth, suffered a deep 2in laceration to his left eyebrow and a 5cm abrasion below his left eye, and has been left permanently disfigured. Gowans, a father-of-one and offshore operator, was a member of the Aberdeen ultras supporters' group.
At Dundee Sheriff Court on Monday, Sheriff Alastair Carmichael told Gowans: “Your actions were selfish, stupid, dangerous and utterly irresponsible. You must have known that by throwing this item it could hit somebody.” He added that a custodial sentence was necessary to punish him and deter others.
Sheriff Carmichael also imposed a 10-year football banning order, the maximum period possible, and Gowans has been given a lifetime ban by Aberdeen. The court heard Gowans was drunk at the time and had sent text messages to the club's supporter liaison officer admitting he threw the seat, saying it was a “disastrous mistake”.
Gowans’s lawyer, Larry Flynn, said his client was “extremely embarrassed” and accepted he let himself and the club down. Gowans pleaded guilty to culpable and reckless conduct in October.
