Dawid Dembler, 35, of Anson Road, Walsall, admitted to assaulting an emergency worker on what should have been the first day of a trial held at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday.
The conviction comes following a ‘large disorder’ at Birmingham’s Villa Park in November 2023 during Aston Villa’s UEFA Europa Conference League match against Legia Warsaw.
During what has been described as the ‘worst football violence in decades’, five officers were injured, more than 40 people were arrested and 700 hours of body-worn camera footage was reviewed as part of a major investigation.
West Midlands Police officers worked alongside colleagues from 11 forces – with officers sustaining 90 minutes of sustained violence, where flares, missiles, and debris were used as weapons by supporters of the Polish football club.
Dembler’s conviction comes after he ran up behind an officer during the disorder, attacked him, and then fled. Dembler was wearing a mask at the time.
Dawid Dembler
Despite running from the scene, other officers saw what had happened and moved in to arrest Dembler for assault.
Detective Inspector Tom Lyons, who has been overseeing the ongoing investigation into the disorder on the night, 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.
“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.
Dembler was released on bail ahead of his sentencing in August.