Football fans have been ordered to complete community service for attacking a man in the aftermath of an international match at Wembley Stadium in which they saw their national side lose.
Polish-born Robert Wozniak and Patryk Kokoska attended Poland’s 2-0 defeat to England - a crunch game on October 15 last year that confirmed England’s place in this year’s World Cup finals - and went out to the pub, having drank heavily during the fixture.
The pair were hosting a group of friends from their homeland but things turned sour while the group were out on the streets in Neasden Lane, Wembley, early the following morning.
There an altercation in which Wozniak and Kokoska attacked a fellow Pole, landing punches and kicks.
The victim, who was a stranger to them, was left with a black eye, swollen face and broken nose following the assault.
Police were alerted by a member of the public and rushed to the scene to make the arrests after a short chase with the defendants.
Prosecutor Simon Wild told Harrow Crown Court on Thursday when police were questioning the self-employed Kokoska – who has a previous conviction of assault in Poland from 2004 after a scrap outside a night club – the Pole told officers that he could not remember what had happened because he had consumed a lot of alcohol.
The pair claim to have stopped drinking since the incident, with the court hearing Kokoska spends £400 a month on deterrent medication which has ‘unpleasant after effects’ should it be combined with drink.
Both men had pleaded guilty to assault, causing actual bodily harm and violent disorder at an earlier hearing on January 14, and were sentenced to undertake 100 hours each of community service. They will also pay a victim surcharge of £60 each.
Sentencing Judge Graham Arran said: “This seems to be an attack fuelled on alcohol, which is worrying.”
Wozniak, a 32-year-old plumber, of Park Drive, Woking, Surrey, and Kokoska, 27, of Grove Way, Wembley, were two of 35 Polish people arrested by police following the match.
One English fan was also arrested.
