Football thug enjoys holiday in Spain after serving less than a third of jail sentence

A FOOTBALL hooligan who attacked a fan on the pitch at the Scottish Cup final has been photographed partying in Benidorm after serving less than three months of his nine month jail sentence.

Fans shopped Darren McDonald, 40, after his photo appeared in the Daily Record newspaper aiming a kick at his victim lying on the ground.

He was given a three-and-a-half-year football banning order as well as the nine-month prison sentence.

The court heard McDonald, from Ballymena,  was already in  jail in Northern Ireland for another offence. Sheriff Stuart Reid ordered him to finish that sentence before starting his new one.

But pictures posted on Facebook show McDonald partying a the opening of a new pub in Benidorm on April 8.

A source told the newspaper: “He was standing on chairs and getting right into the swing of things. He didn’t look like he’d been humbled by his time in jail.

“It seems a bit odd that he was able to swan off to Benidorm after less than three months.”

The prison service in Northern Ireland declined to comment why McDonald was freed so early.