Just a thought, but does anyone know any local Barnsley MPs?

If so is it worth asking him / her to raise the incident in Parliament, afterall it's only because it happened on a football pitch that the police have not got involved. It can't do any harm in terms of putting pressure on the Police or FA to act.

 

Never going to happen

I wish that it weren't so, but if it's 3 days after the event and the police still aren't involved, then they never will be. The law regarding assaults during sporting matches is different from assaults that occur elsewhere and the chances of Morgan ever being convicted of assault in court are almost zero. Maybe unjust, but that's the reality of it as far as I can tell.

 

Hume's medical condition could lengthen the time it takes to report. nt

 

RE: Never going to happen

I dont think Ben Thatcher was ever charged by the Police for "THAT" challenge on Mendes was he??? So I think that says is all, Morgan wont be charged.......
So If you ever want to take a pop at someone do it on a footy pitch in front of 19002 fans, TV cameras and half of South Yorkshire Police, I mean why do it in a boozer and risk prison.... The law is a joke assault is assault end of!!!

 

RE: Never going to happen

If Morgan had simply walked up to Hume and elbowed him in the face then he would currently be helping the police with their enquiries. It wouldn't matter that he was on a football pitch as it would clearly be assault. However, what happened is different to that. Morgan was in a sporting situation challenging for the ball. That's not to say I am excusing the challenge, I'm not, it was awful, but it was not the same as simply laying someone out in a boozer. The incident may well be reported to the police and may well be investigated, but it will not be as cut and dried as when some geezer just lays another one out.

 

Not necessarily

The law regarding assault is not so simple. There are areas where there is implied consent to being assaulted (e.g. when a surgeon cuts you open, he does not commit assault, but he would if he did it on the street).

The same also applies where things that could be considered assault normally are not held to be when they take place in sport since the law assumes that participants in sport are aware of the risks and that they consent to exposing themselves to them. I.e. being punched in the face in a pub is assault, being punched in a boxing match isn't.

For Morgan to be successfully prosecuted the CPS would have to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that being elbowed in the face (regardless of the injury it causes) was not something that normally occurs in a football match and was something that Hume could not have expected to have occurred when he began playing football. Morgan could roll out an endless list of footballers, coaches and witnesses who would all say that yes, elbowing does regularly happen as part of football and that would be the end of the case in all likelihood.

That's one reason why the police won't touch it even if everyone on this BBS rings them up, especially if the injured party Hume hasn't made a complaint and/or won't/can't make a statement.

The fact that the extent of his injuries are not yet known is irrelevant for the decision as to whether or not he is arrested.

I hope I turn out to be wrong, but in the extremely unlikely even that Morgan is arrested and questioned (could still happen mind), I don't see that the CPS would send it to court, especially if it was GBH, because it would be much harder to prove in a crown court (GBH with intent can only be tried at crown court).

Most realistic course of action would be for Hume/BFC to sue Morgan since this requires much less proof but would not result in a criminal conviction.