A trial at Ipswich Crown Court heard Joanne Peters say she thought she could have died when John Ryan fell from the upper tier at Portman Road during the FA Cup tie between Ipswich and Maidstone Utd. Peters said, "I thought the box behind us had collapsed into us." Ryan, 62, is accused of landing on her in January 2024, and he denies two counts of assault by beating and one count of actual bodily harm.
The courtroom account
Peters told the jury, "It was terrifying... just a really, really scary situation." She also said, "He landed on my shoulder. The pressure of that fall, he could have broken my neck." The court heard she suffered elements of whiplash, numbness in her hands and internal bruising.
The prosecution said Ryan had been celebrating a goal in the Cobbold Stand upper tier above Peters when he fell, slid down a sloping roof and landed on Ipswich supporters below. Prosecutor Simon Gladwell previously told the trial Ryan had drunk five cans of lager ahead of the match, while Peters's partner Aaron Rose said, "I've been around drunk people and my assumption is that he was."
Ryan's account
Ryan told the court, "Everyone's jumping about and you just go where you go." He added, "I don't know if I bumped somebody or my foot slipped or what; I just ended up going down the stairs." He also said, "No. It wasn't like that."
The defence is challenging the idea that he moved toward the roof deliberately. The court has also heard Ryan say, "I couldn't stop myself, my leg hit that wall... I just started tilting over," and, "The momentum took me into a roll."
Maidstone Utd won the FA Cup tie 2-1, but that result now sits in the background of a case that is still being heard at Ipswich Crown Court.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
