Stephen Baxter blasts 'trial by television' after Paul Heatley is latest player hit by retrospective action

Stephen Baxter has blasted trial by television in the Irish League after Paul Heatley became the latest player to be hit with a retrospective ban.

Ballymena United's Josh Carson was slapped with a three-game ban by the Irish FA earlier this season after photographic evidence of his tackle on Ethan McGee appeared on social media following Linfield's win over the Sky Blues.

Carson was originally booked for the incident on the pitch by referee Lee Tavinder but has yet to serve his ban after appealing the retrospective action.

READ NEXT: Portadown star labelled 'best in the league' as Niall Currie revels in derby win

READ NEXT: Irish League RECAP as Joe Gormley bags another hat-trick and Portadown take derby honours

Carrick Rangers have followed suit in launching an appeal after Heatley was also hit with a three-game ban following a review of video evidence of the incident with Portadown's Lewis MacKinnon earlier this month. Speaking after Carrick's 1-0 defeat to Dungannon Swifts on Saturday Baxter slammed the retrospective action as "a blight on our game".

“Trial by television simply doesn’t work for me – I think it’s a blight on our game,” said Baxter. “People will certainly take advantage of it, especially on social media. It’s certainly not for me. It’s not because Paul Heatley is involved, it’s to protect the integrity of our game.

“We employ referees to referee the game, that should be the end of it. Trial by television casts a shadow over every aspect of the refereeing fraternity. Suddenly everyone wants to referee games.

“This is not reflective of the Paul Heatley situation, but you cannot have trial by television, particularly when the pictures come from Portadown TV. The BBC cameras were on the other side of the ground. When you watch from their perspective, Paul is breaking his run, he’s tackled, falls over and stands on the guy’s back on a fast run.

“When you slow that down at a million miles an hour, show it in super slow-mo and see it from the other side, from Portadown TV, it looks a different thing altogether. He didn’t try to hurt him an any shape or form. He actually tries to pull his foot away. To try and slow it down and make a deal about it is just lubricious. For me, trial by television is completely wrong.

“We can’t do trial by TV because 20 minutes before that, Paul Heatley was fouled by Gary Thompson, which really could have been a red card when he was through on goal. The referee issued a yellow card. Let the referees referee games. I have been on the receiving end of lots and lots of crazy and bad decisions, which costs me Irish Cup Finals. But you just have to get on with it. You must respect the decision and get on with it.”

Join Belfast Live’s new Irish League WhatsApp group. Click this link to receive the latest Irish League headlines and breaking news direct to your phone. We also treat our members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our group, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice