Norwich City coach pleads guilty to assault with metal pole in Covid mask dispute

A Norwich City youth football coach has been sentenced to two years and eight months in jail for hitting a man in the head with a metal pole because he wasn’t wearing a Covid mask.

The incident occurred in June 2021 at a McDonald’s restaurant in Peterborough’s Haddon Services off the A1.

Conor Murphy, 29, became enraged by a group of four who were not wearing face coverings while queuing for food.

He went back to his car where he found the metal pole and returned to attack one of the men.

During the incident, Murphy questioned one of the group members about why his female friend was not wearing a mask.

However, the woman had had a heart bypass and was exempt from rules at the time which made face coverings indoors mandatory.

An altercation broke out between the man and Murphy, who pushed and shoved each other.

The football coach then went back to his car, sat there for three minutes, found the pole behind his driver’s seat, and returned to confront the group.

He hit the unmasked man on the right side of the head before he fell to the ground, suffering a bad cut that needed gluing.

The victim’s partner intervened and Murphy hit her on the wrist too.

Onlookers tried to restrain him, but he escaped and drove off.

He was arrested a few days later after handing himself in at Thorpe Wood Police Station.

Murphy pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon.

The male victim suffered from migraines, headaches, and ringing in his ears as a result of the assault.

He also had frequent nightmares that come in the form of flashbacks when he feels the blow and sees the blood pouring into his hands.

In an impact statement, he said that the upheaval caused by this incident will never go away, and he was forced to temporarily leave his job as a machinist.

On Wednesday March 8, at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court sitting as a crown court, Murphy was sentenced.

DC Andrea Farnes, of Cambridgeshire Police, described the incident as “a disgusting and pointless assault on someone who was just going about their daily business.”

Murphy was ordered to pay compensation of £2,000 to the male victim and £1,000 to the female as well as a victim surcharge of £156. He left his coaching role with Norwich after the incident.