Former Ukip Portsmouth candidate, 53, admits punching police horse Luna in Portsmouth v Southampton violent disorder

Pompey fan Derek Jennings inflicted a volley of blows on Hampshire police horse Luna after the Pompey v Southampton game at Fratton Park last autumn.

Video footage at the time showed him hitting the ultimately uninjured animal, scrambling to run away before then being tackled to the ground by riot-kit wearing police who were dealing with 'hundreds' of fans.

Now the 53-year-old, a former Ukip candidate for Drayton and Farlington in Portsmouth City Council elections, is facing two years in jail after admitting violent disorder.

‘Chaotic’ scenes unfurled before and after the match as police battled to keep sets of fans separate.

Bottles and missiles were thrown in incidents ‘inciting violence’. Officers kept the fans apart and are still identifying yobs involved.

Jennings was charged following Hampshire's largest-ever football operation on September 24 which spawned a viral video of him punching the horse.

The footage reached tens of thousands of people, dwarfing the 474 votes he garnered in the May 2019 election just four months earlier.

Prosecutor Liam Hunter said Jennings was isolated from the ‘chaotic’ scenes by police after being seen shouting ‘come on then’ and ‘inciting violence towards the officers’.

Mr Hunter said : ‘At one point he's approached by one police officer on horseback and told to curb his behaviour.

‘He responds by punching the horse Luna in the face three times.

‘He leaves, pursued by a number of police officers but is detained.’

Mr Hunter told the court fans from either side were involved and added ‘numerous fans are being violent, batons are being deployed (by police), missiles are being thrown’.

He added: ‘It's chaotic to say the least.’

Footage of Jennings was widely shared on social media following the match at Fratton Park which ended in a 4-0 defeat for the Blues after a 7.45pm kick off.

Mr Hunter said there were ‘threats of violence’ and added: ‘It's a large-scale incident, with a huge amount of disruption.

‘The starting point is two years (in jail).’

Sending the case to Portsmouth Crown Court on April 17, district judge Gary Lucie said: ‘This is a serious offence.

‘It's outside the sentencing powers of this court. I can only sentence up to six months.

‘It's a matter for the crown court as to how they sentence you. I grant you unconditional bail.'

Judge Lucie ordered probation to complete a pre-sentencing report about Jennings and into possible sentences.

'That includes immediate custody,’ the judge said. ‘You need to prepare yourself for that.’

Previously assistant chief constable Scott Chilton said: ‘Sadly we had to prepare for the potential that a minority would try and ruin it for everyone else and this required us, in conjunction with both clubs and our partners, to put plans in place to ensure we were ready to stop that.

‘As expected, due to the nature of the routes to and from Fratton Park, there were times were groups of opposing fans came into close proximity to one another.

‘However, as a result of our careful planning we were able to keep these groups apart and get them to and from the stadium safely.’