He stole a wooly hat off a bouncer and refused to give it back. The Police were called, Aspinwall denied it was him whilst dropping the hat behind him. He then ran off but was stopped by a member of the public

. Police then asked him a few times to return said hat and apologise. Aspinwall refused telling them eventually where to get off. Then he tried to resist being arrested.

That, more or less, is the full account that was read out in court this morning. As a mate commented, I wonder if we should give trials to the member of public who stopped him.

I'm generally not a fan of gesture politics, and I'm definitely against treating people differently just to make a point. All the club need to do is apply the disciplinary process impartially and make sure that it's adequate going forward. Gentle has already spoken to the players to reinforce what's expected of them both on and off the field - that's good enough for me for now.

Sorry but I cant help but think of James Rule answering his front door to the police - "no this is definitely my woolly hat officer"...

Hope he toes the line now and goes on to have a good season for us.

The thing is if he had just asked their was probably one going spare..

...within a few months of being released from prison. It was his 3rd offence of 2011, and despite being given the chance to apologise and walk away, he didn't.
If prison didn't wake him up, a £200 fine won't either. Why would keep him, just waiting for his next offence?

Well said that man, porridge not sorted him

It's like another bad egg that used to ply his trade in the city.

Sack him. He's obviously an idiot and the club need to smarten up their act significantly

As I said, normally I'd agree. But it's precisely because the old regime left the legacy it did with this sort of thing, coupled with the PR disaster it has left us with, namely - to quote a Rovers fan - the three dopes, that we need to demonstrate a differentiation between them and the new board. I honestly think we need to do this to make clear our intentions to the RFL, our stock is that low.

I therefore think we cannot take a risk with Aspinwall, because the simple fact is that, given his previous - and his subsequent failure to learn from his mistakes - this particular player has the propensity, over and above most of the others, to let us down again. Also, Aspinwall wasn't a "previous regime legacy", he's Gentle and McRae's man, so correctly disciplining him will set the precedent.

I don't think he'll go, but if he doesn't, the club should make a publicly clear statement of why, and it's intent for the future.

Much more succinctly put!

wasnt there something else after that?? and wasnt it a female officer?

Lets say that we throw our disciplinary procedure out of the window and sack Aspinwall for a first offence. He then sues for breach of contract. How is that going to improve our PR profile?