Calls for ex-Celtic star Anthony Stokes to be extradited to face justice
Disgraced former Celtic striker Anthony Stokes was due to be extradited to Scotland to stand trial after two years on the run, an Elvis impersonator attacked by the bat has insisted.
Anthony Bradley, 60, who suffered a headbutt from the former Ireland international in a Dublin pub in 2013, also said a decade later Stokes still hasn’t paid him a penny of the £195,000 in compensation he was awarded in court .
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The 34-year-old footballer was due to be tried in Hamilton Sheriff Court in June 2021 for sending abusive text messages to the father of his former girlfriend Eilidh Scott.
But he failed to appear to face punishment for the crime, prompting Eilidh, 31, to be convicted of a seven-month stalking campaign and issued a warrant for his arrest.
Mr Bradley said he felt sympathy for the Stokes victims in Scotland.
He added: “You must be feeling disappointed. Something should now be done to secure his extradition. The system let us down.”
The player is wanted for violating a no-harassment order when he texted Eilidh’s father George. He previously admitted to stalking Eilidh with more than 100 abusive messages a day.
Hours after the warrant was issued, he posted a selfie with the caption, “Any bad news?”
In July 2022 he was arrested by police in Northern Ireland and put on a flight from Belfast to Dundee.
When Stokes appeared in court via video link, he was released on bail.
Sheriff Scott Pattison asked him if he would return and he replied: “Yes I will be here.” But he did not show up in August, citing Covid.
That same month, he released a rap track online in which he branded police informants “rats.” Another arrest warrant was issued in September.
Mr Bradley said: “Allowing him to return to Ireland makes no sense given the man’s history.”
He did not receive the £25,000 he was awarded in the criminal case before a Supreme Court ruling awarded him a further £170,000.
The victim of the attack added: “I had to move on. I cashed in my pension to pay my medical bills.”
In 2017, Stokes was given a two-year suspended sentence for assaulting Mr Bradley, who suffered a broken nose and teeth.
A spokesman for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service said: “In deciding whether or not to grant bail a sheriff must consider what is presented to the court and the specific facts and circumstances of the case and the accused.”
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