Left: Volunteer umpire Michael Delaney was assaulted by two junior football coaches as his son Matthew watched.
By Rebecca Fraser
A MAN convicted of bashing a junior football umpire last week is set to front court again – this time charged with fleeing the scene of an accident.
On Wednesday, 12 April 20-year-old Francesco Guiseppe Scordo was found guilty of assaulting volunteer parent umpire Michael Delaney at an under-nine fun day in August 2004.
The former Mossgiel Park Junior Football Club (MPJFC) assistant coach faced four charges in relation to the incident at the Dandenong District Junior Football League match day, including intentionally causing injury, assault by kicking, recklessly causing injury and unlawful assault.
Magistrate Brian Clifford sentenced the Endeavour Hills resident to four months’ imprisonment, with two months suspended for two years.
However, an appeal against the sentence was immediately lodged with the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court and Scordo was granted bail.
Scordo will front court again on Monday, 15 May in relation to three separate driving incidents, including an incident in Endeavour Hills in December in which a 26-year-old man received two broken legs and serious head injuries.
Scordo has been charged with driving while suspended, failing to stop and render assistance and failing to exchange his name and details.
The Endeavour Hills resident will also face charges of driving while suspended, speeding and failing to give way in relation to a matter on 10 April last year.
Last Wednesday, Tony Clifford Bundy, a former MPJFC coach, was also found guilty of assaulting Mr Delaney.
Bundy, 24, has also appealed his sentence and was granted bail after being sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, with two months suspended for two years.
The incident occurred during a match between Mossgiel Park and Endeavour Hills football clubs.
No scores were being kept during the friendly game and the incident occurred in full view of hundreds of spectators and young children.
Mr Delaney, a 41-year-old father of four, welcomed the sentence last week and said it sent a clear message that violence would not be tolerated in junior sport and in front of impressionable children.
The court was told Scordo was wearing a pair of steel-capped boots when he repeatedly kicked Mr Delaney in the lower back as he lay on the ground.
Mr Delaney said he had been forced to give up work as a forklift driver since the altercation and he now suffered severe back pain and was unable to sleep at night.
He said his son had since returned to playing football with the Hallam Junior Football Club but had been “devastated” for weeks after the brawl.
The incident was captured on amateur video, which was presented as evidence in court.
Both Scordo and Bundy pleaded not guilty and claimed they had acted in self-defence.
Mr Delaney said he could not believe that the pair still showed no remorse.
“Videos do not lie – people do,” he said.
