Ex-Celtic star Leigh Griffiths in court accused of kicking smoke bomb into crowd

A SCOTLAND international has appeared in court accused of endangering supporters by kicking a flare or smoke bomb into a crowd.

Leigh Griffiths was playing for Dundee FC when he allegedly struck a rival supporter with the pyrotechnic device during a local derby match.

The former Celtic and Scotland striker appeared in the dock at Dundee Sheriff Court to face a charge of culpable and reckless conduct.

If found guilty, a conviction for the offence could potentially lead to a sentence of up to 12 months imprisonment.

Griffiths, 32, from Glasgow, is alleged to have booted the flare into a group of fans watching the match between Dundee and St Johnstone on 22 September 2021.

Prosecutors allege they have CCTV evidence of the incident and the case was continued for them to share the footage with Griffiths’ legal team.

Griffiths is alleged to have carried out the offence at Dens Park Stadium in Dundee, “during the course of a football match being played there.”

It is alleged he “culpably and recklessly kicked a flare, smoke bomb or similar item into the crowd occupying the Bob Shankly Stand.”

The charge alleges that “in doing so, he did cause the said flare, smoke bomb or similar item to strike David Soutar on the body, all to the danger of the lieges.”

Griffiths’ solicitor Larry Flynn told the court he had received the court paperwork at short notice and asked for the case against the footballer to be continued without a plea being entered.

Mr Flynn said: “This is the first calling of a cited case today and papers were served very late in the day. He didn’t really require to be here today.”

Fiscal depute Emma Farmer said she was content for the case to be continued and told the court the Crown would be producing CCTV footage as evidence.

Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown continued the case for four weeks to a case management hearing and she ordained Griffiths to appear again next month.

She gave the Crown 14 days to disclose the CCTV footage to the defence lawyer and a further seven days for Griffiths and his team to review the footage.

Leigh Griffiths is a Scottish professional footballer who most recently played as a striker for Australian club Mandurah City.

Griffiths started his career at Livingston where he made his debut as a sixteen-year-old, before moving to Dundee in 2009 for £125,000.

He moved to Wolves for around £150,000 in January 2011 and spent a period on loan with Hibs, where he won the SFWA Footballer of the Year award.

Griffiths then moved to Celtic, where he scored 90 goals in 173 games, and established himself as a regular member of the Scotland squad.

He scored four times in 22 international appearances, including a double against England.

He moved back to Dundee on loan before recent unsuccessful spells with Falkirk and in Australia.

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