A 43-year-old man has been handed a three-year football banning order after butting the TV pundit Roy Keane at a match. Scott Law, 43, was found guilty of common assault after he and Keane clashed last September. The fracas began when Keane and his fellow Sky Sports pundit Micah Richards were walking to do the final match analysis after Arsenal’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United, the trial at Highbury Corner magistrates court heard. The former Republic of Ireland international was butted through doors at the Emirates Stadium by Law. Law’s defence team said CCTV footage from inside the stadium, shown in court, displayed Keane elbowing the defendant in the face. Giving evidence to the court, Richards denied accusations by Law’s barrister that he had claimed to see the butt because he was “Roy’s mate” and had become his “puppy” and “stooge”. Richards said he “grappled” with Law after the alleged incident, said he was in “disbelief” at what he witnessed and “felt sorry for Roy”, who he described as a friend. He said “you wouldn’t get sent off” for actions in CCTV footage, shown in court, that Law’s defence team alleged showed Keane elbowing the defendant in the face. After the match, footage was widely shared on social media of the former footballer stepping in to calm an apparent confrontation. Law, who was sat beneath the Sky Sports studio during the match, said Keane was “very animated” and “angry” throughout the game, adding he had “never really seen that behaviour from someone who was working in the Sky box”. He told the court: “Mr Keane was puffing his cheeks out. He was right up against the glass. He was banging on the window. Mr Keane picked me out and started telling me to see him outside. He was pointing to doors in the box.” Law said he went inside the stadium to go to the toilet and encountered Keane, who “collided into him”. The prosecutor Simon Jones KC asked Law: “Are you seriously saying that Roy Keane ran into the top of your head?” Law, who cried while being questioned, said: “I put my head down in a defensive manner to protect my face.” Jones said Law’s “ridiculous” defence had “changed dramatically” from a prepared statement he gave to police the day after the incident. Asked about the apparent differences in this statement, Law said: “I’d had no sleep – I was guilty by media. It was the worst night of my life.” Law, a civil engineer, said he had been an Arsenal fan “from birth” and that his season ticket was his “prized possession”. He told the court: “It’s the main part of my social circle. My wife organises her diary around Arsenal fixtures because she knows I’ll be there.” Delivering his verdict, District Judge Angus Hamilton said he believed Law had been “untruthful about what happened” during the match. “There was no reason Mr Keane should have picked on him in particular.” Keane “was calm and not agitated” when he left the studio, he added. The judge said Keane’s reputation as the so-called “hard man of football”, was “years ago and was confined to the football pitch”, stating: “I’m sure Mr Law assaulted Mr Keane.” As well as being barred from attending football matches, Law was ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work and must pay legal costs of £650 plus a victim surcharge of £114. Law did not react as the verdict was delivered. Reading a statement on behalf of Law outside court, his defence lawyer Charles Sherrard KC said: “I was found guilty by a judge who excluded me at times from my own trial. The prosecution deprived me of key footage for my defence. I most definitely plan to appeal this conviction. I will not be making any further statements.”