Former Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths has been handed a £1000 fine following an appearance at Dundee Sheriff Court. The ex-Scotland Internationalist was ordered to appear in court resulting in the long journey from Australia to the City of Discovery to be sentenced following an incident against St Johnstone in 2021.
Griffiths, then on-loan from Celtic, kicked a smoke bomb into the away end resulting in a Police report being passed to the Procurator Fiscal. Griffiths pled guilty to culpable and reckless conduct and received the hefty financial penalty.
It was revealed in court during the plea-in-mitigation by Griffiths’ solicitor, Larry Flynn, that Griffiths was playing for Mandurah City for free and was awaiting the conclusion of these proceedings so that his visa application to Oz may be processed.
The 33-year-old scored 123 goals for Celtic in 261 appearances but off-field issues plagued the striker’s time in Glasgow. Although, he will depart with a place in Celtic’s all-time scoring charts as well as an excellent haul of winners and medals. Ange Postecoglou rewarded him with a one-year deal as he arrived at Celtic, stating each player would have the chance to earn their place. Off-field antics shunted Griffiths’ future back into focus and a loan to Dundee was agreed. Midway through the season, the club decided to exercise an option to end his contract prematurely before Dundee also rejected the chance to sign him permanently.
Since then, Griffiths has struggled to establish himself at a new club but it appears that a permanent move to Australia is close.
Good luck to the player on his next move.
