Derbyshire groundsman pleads guilty of revenge attack

Derbyshire groundsman has pleaded guilty of causing damage to the slashing covers and sabotaging equipment. Chris Hallam has already been sacked by the club and has been sentenced an eight-week prison. He has also been suspended for one year after causing £3000 of damage at the County Ground in Derby. The action is being termed as the ‘revenge attack.’

The unfortunate incident took place on August 18 few hours before the crucial Natwest T20 Blast between Derbyshire and Worcestershire. The home team won their final must-win group game to qualify for the knockouts for the first time since 2005. But Chris Hallam was caught on on CCTV cameras slashing the covers with a knife and pouring the liquid into the fuel tank of the club’s blotter machine, weeks after being dismissed.

Hallam will also pay the damaged amount as compensation

The spokesman for Derby police said that they were called by the staff of the cricket club at Derbyshire and showed the CCTV footage. “We were called to the county ground in Derby by staff at Derbyshire County Cricket Club who had recognised a man on its CCTV going on to the pitch and using a blade to slash the covers. He was also captured on the footage pouring a liquid into the fuel tank of the blotter machine at the ground,” he told the Derby Telegraph.

Chris was arrested by the police couple of days after the incident at his new place of work. “At around 3 pm on August 20, we arrested Chris Hallam, who had recently been dismissed as an employee at the club, at his new place of work. He was questioned and did not realise the club had installed CCTV since he had been dismissed and he was charged with criminal damage,” the spokesman informed.

The guilty groundsman was also ordered to pay Derbyshire £3000 in compensation and must observe a 12-week curfew. The club has also made it clear that they would not comment on the matter.