Umpire punch fan handed suspended sentence

A football fan who punched an umpire in the face in the closing moments of a country grand final has been given a suspended eight-month jail term.

Jeffery Archie Humphries, 25, must also pay $2500 compensation to Brenton Bartlett for the assault in the South West Football League reserves grand final on September 27. During sentencing, Magistrate Dianne Scaddan described the attack as "unprovoked and cowardly".

She told Humphries that he had taken abuse normally directed at umpires to a "whole new level".

Humphries, who was supporting Carey Park, was intoxicated and angry his team had lost the grand final to Eaton Boomers, his lawyer said.

Before he punched Mr Bartlett, Humphries told him his "umpiring" had been "s…house".