I stand by that headline, controversial as it may be.
The reason I believe the Not Proven verdict to be correct is the 'sectarian' part of the charge. There is absolutely no doubt that the attacker, Hearts fan John Wilson, 26, assaulted the Celtic manager and should have been convicted of assault.
Had the decision been taken to simply charge Mr Wilson with assault, breach of the peace and possibly inciting a riot, the prosecution would have had more or less and open-and-shut case. The problem that lay ahead for the prosecution and the jurors was the issue of a 'sectarian assault'.
What this charge means, to my knowledge, is that Mr Wilson assaulted the Celtic manager in a sectarian manner, or his motive for attacking Neil Lennon was a sectarian one. I'm not entirely sure how you assault someone in a sectarian manner unless you malky them with a big crucifix or attempt to strangle them with an orange sash, so let's assume it's the latter.
As far as the newspapers have been reporting, the Sun stated that Mr Wilson's defence claimed he'd called Neil Lennon a 'fucking wanker'. That, I'm sure we all know, isn't sectarian. It's nasty and horrible to be called, but it's not sectarian. The prosecution claimed that a steward had heard Mr Wilson call Neil Lennon a 'fenian bastard'. In calling him that, assuming Mr Wilson is meaning 'fenian' as Roman Catholic, is absolutely, 100% definitely sectarian abuse and despicable in every sense of the word.
The problem, in a strictly legal and judicial sense is that this was now a case of one man's word against another. Without further supporting evidence, however, that does not constitute evidence in a court of law and therefore the Not Proven verdict or an outright acquittal were the two options for the jury.
Given that Mr Wilson admitted assaulting the Celtic boss, that everyone on the jury and the judge will have seen the incident and that was indisputable, the verdict of Not Proven is all that really could have been reached by a sensible jury.
Celtic and their fans are, perhaps understandably, aggrieved at the verdict, however their anger should be directed at either the police or the prosecution - whoever decided the charge should be that of 'sectarian assault'. As laid out above, that was always going to be a real tough call to prove in a court of law, even with a whole bagful of circumstantial evidence.
Parkhead supremo Peter Lawwell said in a press conference today that, '(Neil) Lennon has been left baffled and confused by the verdict.' He also described the verdict as a 'body blow' and that they 'need to rebuild him (Lennon)'.
We can all understand how people might be baffled and confused by the verdict, but one look at the charge sheet should have left a lot more people baffled and confused than the verdict. Whether they 'need to rebuild him' or not remains to be seen, however I don't think the Six Million Dollar Man need be unduly worried just yet.
Whoever made that decision should be given a severe reprimand in their job, because it's ultimately let a criminal off the hook for assaulting the Celtic manager.
