WRESTLER and part-time football player Roy Bevis has admitted hitting a referee after he was shown a red card.
Bevis hit Cambridge ref Andrew Chapman so hard it knocked him out during the game between Thetford Town and Stowmarket Town FC in the Ridgeons League.
Now the 24-year-old, known on the professional wrestling circuit as “Zebra Kid”, faces a lifelong ban from football after admitting the attack, pleading guilty to assault at Lowestoft Magistrates’ Court.
Prosecutor David Hutson said Bevis had hit Mr Chapman, who has been a referee for 15 years, with an open-palm strike after “blowing it” when he was red-carded for fighting.
It is the second time Bevis, who has a history of violence, has appeared in court in recent weeks.
On August 25 he was spared jail for brandishing a 12in Gurkha knife and throwing a beer bottle at a drinker’s head on a night out at a pub in Lowestoft.
The wrestler, who admitted affray, possessing an offensive weapon and assaulting a police officer, was made the subject of a number of orders aimed at tackling his aggressive behaviour, given a 51-week suspended jail sentence, and ordered to do 180 hours’ community service.
At his latest court appearance his lawyer Chris Brown said Bevis saw red when he saw the red card.
He said: “He knew he had blown it, but the mist only descended as far as that one blow and then he turned around and walked to the dressing rooms.”
Magistrate John Nicholls said the slap was an “impulsive act” which caused only minor injuries, but made it clear that his aggression was unacceptable.
He said: “We cannot ignore that it happened to a match official, a referee, and his authority was publicly questioned in this forceful way.
“We have also looked at your previous history for violence and the total lack of respect for authority your record shows.”
Bevis was fined £100, ordered to pay £100 compensation and £35 costs, and now faces a Football Association disciplinary hearing which could see him banned for life.
The hearing is being held by Norfolk County FA on Wednesday, October 5, with association guidelines allowing for an indefinite suspension with no review for five years, along with a £250 fine.
