A "cowardly" football thug who was filmed kicking a police officer outside Villa Park before a European cup tie has been spared jail.
Mask-wearing Dawid Dembler, 35, was captured on camera running up behind the officer and booting him before running off.
The shocking attack happened as Legia Warsaw fans clashed with police and Aston Villa supporters on November 30, 2023.
Dozens of arrests were made during the disorder which broke out ahead of the UEFA Europa Conference League tie.
Burning flares, bricks and bottles were hurled towards police by the car park reserved for away coaches along Witton Lane during "90 minutes of sustained violence."
West Midlands Police described it as the "worst violence seen in 28 years of policing" at a football match.
Dawid Dembler (Image: SWNS/ West Midlands Police)
More than 40 people were arrested, and some 700 hours of body-worn camera footage has been reviewed as part of the investigation.
Dembler, of Walsall, is the first person to be convicted in connection with the disorder.
Dembler admitted assaulting an emergency worker and was handed an 18-week suspended sentence at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday (August 28).
He was also ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and banned from football matches for five years.
Detective Inspector Tom Lyons, of West Midlands Police, said: "You can see from the footage that this was a cowardly attack on an officer who had his back turned as he worked hard to contain a violent crowd of away fans at the Witton Lane coach park gate.
"It caused the PC to stumble forward, but thankfully there was no lasting injury and quick work by officers nearby meant Dembler was swiftly identified and arrested.
"Because of the volatility of the situation on the ground, we didn't initially know which officer had been attacked.
"It was only when we trawled through hundreds of hours of footage that we were able to identify that it was a West Mercia officer who had been supporting the operation on the night.
"The footage showing him jolting forward was matched to other images, and we established that it was Dembler's kick that had caused it.
The officer hadn't been aware of exactly what had happened.
"Although he initially denied the attack, the evidence from the officers and their body worn cameras meant Dembler had no choice but to plead guilty."
Six other men are due to stand trial next June charged over the night's violence.