AN ITALIAN man has plead guilty to the assault of Liverpool fan Sean Cox outside a pub close to Anfield stadium.
Simone Mastrelli admitted to the attack but denied violent disorder at Preston Crown Court today (Thursday, February 28th).
Mastrelli entered a guilty plea to unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Cox and is now due to be sentenced.
The 30-year-old was extradited to the UK last month after being arrested in Italy on a European Arrest Warrant.
The incident, which occurred ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final meeting with Roma last April, left the 53-year-old Cox with severe brain injuries.
Mr Cox, from Dunboyne in County Meath, suffered catastrophic head injuries and was left in a coma after the attack.
The father-of-three spent four-and-a-half weeks at the Walton Centre in Liverpool, a specialist neurological unit for brain injuries, following the attack which took place on April 24th.
He was later airlifted to another specialist unit at Dublin's Beaumont Hospital and has continued his recovery at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire.
Two other men were arrested for their part in the attack.
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