A thug has admitted kicking a West Midlands Police officer in the back outside Villa Park in what the force says is ‘some of the worst UK football disorder in decades’.
Masked Dawid Dembler, from Walsall, ran up behind the officer, attacked him and then fled.
But other officers saw what happened and moved in to arrest Dembler for assault.
It happened on a night of shameful scenes before Aston Villa’s UEFA Europa Conference League match against Legia Warsaw in November, 2023.
West Midlands Police officers – along with colleagues from 11 forces – faced 90 minutes of sustained violence, where flares, missiles, and debris were used as weapons by supporters of the Polish football club.
During what was described as the ‘worst football violence in decades’, five officers were injured. More than 40 people were arrested, and some 700 hours of body-worn camera footage has been reviewed as part of the investigation.
Dawid Dembler from Walsall
Dawid Dembler from Walsall
On Wednesday (18 June), Dembler admitted assaulting an emergency worker, on what should have been the first day of his trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
The 35-year-old, of Anson Road, Bentley, Walsall, was released on bail ahead of sentence in August.
'A cowardly attack'
Det Insp Tom Lyons, who has been overseeing the ongoing investigation into the night’s violence, said: "You can see from the footage that 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.
"It caused the PC to stumble forward, but thankfully there was no lasting injury and quick work by officers nearby meant Dembler was swiftly identified and arrested.
"Because of the volatility of the situation on the ground, we didn’t initially know which officer had been attacked.
"It was only when we trawled through hundreds of hours of footage that we were able to identify that it was a West Mercia officer who had been supporting the operation on the night.
"The footage showing him jolting forward was matched to other images, and we established that it was Dembler’s kick that had caused it.
The officer hadn’t been aware of exactly what had happened.
"Although he initially denied the attack, the evidence from the officers and their body worn cameras meant Dembler had no choice but to plead guilty."
Six other men are due to stand trial in June next year charged over the night’s violence.