Asmir Begovic has revealed his reaction after witnessing an individual tie themselves to his goalpost during Everton's win over Newcastle United earlier this year.
Louis McKechnie, 21, made his way onto the Goodison Park pitch during the March fixture as he attempted to raise awareness of the 'Just Stop Oil' movement, who are attempting to bring an end to all new licenses and production of fossil fuels in the UK amid grave concerns in the role this plays in climate change.
McKechnie was today found guilty at a trial at South Sefton Magistrates' Court and handed a six-week prison sentence for aggravated trespass, which the court heard he had already served having been in custody since July. The protester was also given a £50 fine, or one day in detention, for going onto the playing area, made subject to a three-year football banning order and ordered to pay £500 towards prosecution costs.
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Sentencing him, District Judge Wendy Lloyd described the actions of the 21-year-old as 'reckless' and 'potentially very dangerous', adding: "I have no doubt from what you have told me that you're passionate about your cause. Not very passionate about football, apparently."
His actions took place beside Begovic, who has now shared his reaction to the incident. "Scared the sh*t out of me," tweeted the Bosnian shot-stopper. Everton would go on to make the most of the 14 minutes of stoppage time added on because of McKechnie, scoring in the 99th minute through Alex Iwobi.
McKechnie told the court Just Stop Oil was a civil resistance group which wanted the Government to act to end the use of fossil fuels. He said: "We came up with the idea of how do we get the most eyes on that name, Just Stop Oil, and of course, in this day and age, football is the biggest cultural phenomenon there is. Hopefully, public awareness will bring public action which might actually, if we can get the Government to listen to us, might actually save a lot of lives. If it's a chance of saving a billion lives, it's worth it no matter the odds."
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