TEN football hooligans responsible for large-scale violence at Judges Lodgings will be sentenced within the next six weeks after the last of them changed his plea.
Jordan Stephen Willoughby, 24, initially denied a charge of violent disorder at the pub in Lendal, York, when groups from home and away fans fought shortly before York City played Chester City at Bootham Crescent.
His lawyers indicated at a previous hearing that he would claim that he had not been present at the pub and may have been mistaken for his twin brother.
But a week before he was due to stand trial, the 24-year-old from Board Street, South Bank, changed his plea to guilty at York Crown Court.
Judge Andrew Stubbs QC released him on bail with the warning: “You must expect a custodial sentence.”
Willoughby will be sentenced along with nine other men who have already pleaded guilty to violent disorder at a date to be arranged within six weeks.
The judge ordered the sentencing hearing to be split in two with the York group sentenced before lunch and the Chester group, which has to travel further, after lunch.
The violence happened as York City prepared to play Chester City on October 22, 2016. The match ended 1-1.
The nine who had previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder are: Darren Leslie Cummings, 44, of Lindsey Avenue, Acomb; James Michael Windass, 52, of Tennant Road, Acomb; David Michael Ellis, 34, of Pottery Lane, York; Kyle O’Gorman, 25, of Tennyson Walk, Chester; Tom Melia, 21, of Hope Farm Road, Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port; Neil Hughes, 63, of Cable Court, High Street, Connahs Quay, Flintshire; Lewis Griffiths, 18, of Wellington Road, Broughton, Flintshire and Ben Wilcox, 19, of Crown Estate, Holywell, Flintshire, who all admitted their guilt at their first appearance before York Crown Court; and Daniel Sharples, 22, of Aston Hill, Ewloe, Deeside, near Chester, who pleaded guilty before York Magistrates' Court.
All 10 are on bail conditions which prevent them attending matches of the two teams or travelling abroad when England are playing away from home.
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