A Roma fan has pleaded guilty to assaulting Liverpool fan Sean Cox before last year’s Champions League semi-final first leg between the sides at Anfield.
Sky Sports reports Simone Mastrelli, a 30-year-old from Rome, had been ‘extradited last month after being arrested on a European Arrest Warrant in Italy’ in connection with the attack on Cox outside Liverpool’s stadium.
The website explains Mastrelli ‘entered a guilty plea to unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm’ on the father-of-three at Preston Crown Court on Thursday morning, and his sentence will ‘follow shortly’.
However, he pleaded not guilty to a separate count of violent disorder.
The Irishman was struck on the head before the Reds’ Champions League’s semi-final first leg against Roma on April 24 of last year.
The injuries were so severe that he spent three months in a coma, only regaining consciousness last July.
The Giallorossi responded by paying Cox’s family €150,000 to cover the costs of his treatment.