Scott Dragsness

Introduction

Scott Dragsness is a Glasgow man with a previous conviction for violence who, with two younger co-accused, Ben Stanex and Andrew Graham, took part in a concerted sectarian group assault in which the victim was punched to the ground, repeatedly kicked on the head and body, stamped upon and left unconscious and seriously injured, while abuse relating to religion was shouted at him. Sentencing the trio at Glasgow Sheriff Court, Sheriff Andrew McIntyre said football-related violence was a matter of serious concern in the city and was “all the worse when it is driven by prejudice related to the victim’s religion or perceived religious affiliation”, and imposed custodial sentences on all three — eighteen months for Dragsness, whose sentence included three months attributable to the religious aggravation, along with Football Banning Orders .

Background Information

The attack was football-related: Sheriff McIntyre’s remarks record that the crime was “related to a football match”, the statutory basis for the Football Banning Orders imposed on each offender. The victim was punched, fell to the ground, and was then repeatedly kicked on the head and body and stamped upon; such was the ferocity of the attack that he lost consciousness and was seriously injured. During the attack, abuse relating to religion was shouted at him — the aggravation that marked three months of each sentence . All three men pleaded guilty, so the complainer did not have to give evidence. Unlike his co-accused, Dragsness was not a first offender: he had a limited criminal record which was of some age and of a less serious nature, but it was not his first assault conviction and his record included other convictions for disorderly behaviour. Stanex and Graham were both under 25 and of previous good character, meaning the Scottish sentencing guidelines for young people applied to them .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted a religiously aggravated group assault on a football fan; jailed and banned from all UK football grounds.

Sentencing, Sheriff McIntyre told the men that each was criminally responsible for the acts of the others because they had acted as part of a group with a common criminal purpose, and that the attack posed an obvious danger to the complainer’s life. He rejected submissions for community-based disposals such as a Community Payback Order or Restriction of Liberty Order: community sentences, he said, would be “wholly inadequate”, would fail to reflect the seriousness of the crime or the community’s disapproval of sectarian, football-related violence, and would fail to deter others, undermining the safety of the public for whom such conduct was a significant threat. Only a prison sentence, he concluded, could mark the seriousness of the crime and protect the public by deterrence . Because of his previous conviction for violence, Dragsness received two years, three months of which was attributable to the religious aggravation, modified to eighteen months in recognition of his plea at the first diet. Stanex and Graham, first offenders under 25, each received sixteen months with the same three-month religious-aggravation component, modified to one year in light of their early pleas .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The sheriff’s published remarks are an explicit judicial statement against sectarian football violence in Glasgow: the law, he said, recognises that such violence is worse when driven by prejudice about the victim’s religion, and he was satisfied that in “light of the nature of the crime and the fact that it was related to a football match” Football Banning Orders were appropriate in each case to prevent violence or disorder at or in connection with football matches. Each man was banned from entering any football ground anywhere in the UK, with the order’s terms spelt out in court . The sentences were backdated to 7 October, the date on which the men were remanded in custody .

Current Status

Dragsness is serving an eighteen-month sentence that runs from 7 October 2026, with three months of the pre-plea term having been attributable to religious aggravation and the reduction reflecting his first-diet plea. Stanex and Graham are serving twelve-month terms from the same date. All three are subject to Football Banning Orders excluding them from every football ground in the UK . No appeal was reported in the published remarks .

Impact on Their Career/Life

For Dragsness, a man whose record already included an assault conviction and disorderly-behaviour offending, the case converted a pattern of street violence into a substantial custodial term and a football exclusion order that bars him from any ground in the UK for the order’s duration — a direct legal response to the sectarian character of the attack. The court took full account of the men’s good character in limiting the sentences “to the greatest extent possible having regard to the nature of the violence involved”, but held that even young, first-offender participants in group violence of this kind could not be dealt with in the community . The victims’ injuries — unconsciousness and serious injury from kicks and stamps to the head while prone — and the religious abuse shouted during the attack made the case the sheriff’s chosen vehicle for a public warning that football-related sectarian violence in Glasgow will meet with custody and stadium exclusions rather than payback orders .

Sources

• “HMA v Scott Dragsness, Ben Stanex and Andrew Graham, remarks of Sheriff Andrew McIntyre” — Judiciary of Scotland, 28 October 2026: source