Motherwell captain Quinn is found guilty of assault

May 14 2008

MOTHERWELL Football Club captain Paul Quinn was this week convicted of knocking a man unconscious at a team-mate’s birthday party.

Quinn punched 22-year-old Andrew Smith to the ground after he spotted him chatting to a girl.

The incident took place at Motherwell striker Ross McCormack’s 21st birthday bash.

The 22-year-old defender then followed Mr Smith outside the Glasgow nightclub and knocked him unconscious with another punch before going back inside to boast about the attack to friends.

He was later arrested after Mr Smith spotted his photo on the club’s website and reported the attack to the police.

At Glasgow Sheriff Court Quinn, of North Kilmeny Crescent, Wishaw, was convicted of assaulting Mr Smith and knocking him unconscious to his injury on August 19 last year.

The court heard that Mr Smith was chatting to a girl in the VIP lounge of the Classic Grand nightclub when Quinn walked over and asked “is this guy annoying you?” before striking Mr Smith with his shoulder.

Mr Smith, a trainee civil engineer, replied “do you want to f*** off mate?” before Quinn punched him to the ground.

The two men were quickly pulled apart and club bouncers asked Mr Smith to leave and escorted him outside.

Minutes later Quinn and his friend appeared, threatened Mr Smith and said: “what you gonnae do now?”

The footballer then swung a punch at his victim and knocked him to the ground unconscious.

Mr Smith told the court: “I felt a punch and my eyesight started going dark and I could feel something hitting the back of my neck and then I fell unconscious.

“The next thing I remember was my friend’s girlfriend pouring water over my face to wake me”.

The engineer visited the city’s Southern General Hospital the next day where he was treated for a swollen jaw and given painkillers.

He now suffers from hearing difficulty in his right ear as a result of the attack.

The court heard that after the assault, Quinn went back inside the club where partygoer Graeme Findlay (24) spotted him boasting about it with friends.

Mr Findlay said: “After leaving, Paul was back in the club about five or 10 minutes later and I saw gestures on the dance floor as if there had been a fight and people were happy.

“They were laughing, tapping each other and throwing fake punches.”

Mr Smith reported the incident to police 10 days later after being told that some Motherwell players had arrived just before the attack.

He checked on the club website and instantly recognised Quinn as his attacker.

Sheriff Sean Murphy QC deferred sentence until July for background reports and Quinn was released on bail.