Former Celtic star John Hartson was threatened with assault by an angry dad who accused the ex-footballer’s daughter of viciously attacking his child.
Neil Stocks, 44, posted a message on Facebook saying he would “burst” the retired Welsh international if “your daughter or her pals go near my daughter again”. The threat was made after a sickening video emerged on Snapchat of Stocks’ two daughters being surrounded and abused by a gang of schoolkids.
The footage, seen by the Record, shows Hartson’s teenage daughter in a violent confrontation with Stocks’ younger daughter, then 12, in Penicuik, Midlothian. Hartson’s daughter is seen pushing the other teen before the pair end up rolling around on the ground in a fight.
Stocks appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday and pled guilty to threatening or abusive behaviour. Xander Van Der Scheer, prosecuting, said there had been an “altercation” between Hartson and Stocks’ daughter which “spread on social media” after being filmed.
He added that Hartson’s wife Sarah was informed by their daughter the next day a “threat” had been made on Facebook. The court heard Sarah, 51, checked the post on Stocks’ Facebook page.
The post read: “John Hartson, yes the ex-Tim, your daughter and her pals go near my daughter again and I will burst you, you fat sheep-sh***ing p***k.” Mr Van Der Scheer said police were contacted and officers spoke to Hartson, 48, who was “upset and anxious” about it but “didn’t want to make a formal complaint”.
The court heard food industry supervisor Stocks was still arrested. Defence agent Liam Kildare said his client was a married dad of three whose daughters were now 16 and 13.
Mr Kildare added: “Mr Stocks’ older daughter had been having a difficult time at school. She’s been targeted by individuals from another school and that has had a significant impact on her mental health. Both parents have been dealing with this.”
Mr Kildare said Hartson’s daughter had been the “ringleader of the group” when Stocks’ daughters were “surrounded by 20 to 30 individuals of a similar age”. He added he’d watched the footage and Hartson’s daughter “accosts” his client’s older daughter, then 15, who “looks quite terrified”.
The court hears the younger daughter “tries to intervene and is assaulted for two to three minutes” by Hartson’s daughter. Mr Kildare said Stocks was “very upset” … and contacted police and the school about the “behaviour of this group, and particularly Mr Hartson’s daughter”.
He added: “In a moment of madness, he typed some words on Facebook and posted. He can see it was the wrong course of action.”
He said Stocks’ daughter had now left school “due to her health”. Sheriff Michael Anderson said: “As a parent, I understand your angry response, especially if your child, according to the information given, was being bullied, outrageously bullied.”
But he added that Stocks had “real remedies” available, adding: “It was not for you to do that.”
The sheriff fined Stocks, of Penicuik, £210 after he admitted uttering derogatory remarks and a threat of violence in a public Facebook post last September, with the charge carrying a racial aggravation due to the language used. Stocks’ wife, Stacey, 42, who was in court, said another parent brought the video to her attention.
She added: “My kids were terrified afterwards. They didn’t want to go to school.
"We had a meeting with the school who said they should come back on a staggered timetable so they were coming in later and leaving early. That went on for a month then they went back to a normal timetable.
"My older daughter struggled and left in December. The school and the police wouldn’t help her. Nobody would. She’s a lovely lassie but timid and shy.”
Stacey added: “Penicuik is a small town. She’s been bullied through her whole high school education.”
Outside court, Neil Stocks said: “It was a heat of the moment comment on Facebook. I regret the language I used. I just wanted acknowledgement John Hartson was even aware of the situation.”
Dad-of-five Hartson played for Celtic, Arsenal, West Ham and Wimbledon. He also won 51 caps for Wales and now works as a TV football pundit.
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