A father-of-three left severely disabled after being assaulted by a gang of football hooligans died at home today more than five years after the unprovoked attack.
Simon Dobbin, 48, was beaten and ‘kicked like a football’ after going to watch Cambridge United play at Southend United in Essex in a brutal 90-second assault.
The football fan from Mildenhall, Suffolk, who served in the Royal Air Force, suffered permanent brain damage and was left severely disabled by the attack in March 2015.
Mr Dobbin’s ordeal touched the nation when his house was transformed by a team led by Nick Knowles on the BBC programme DIY SOS: The Big Build in January 2019.
The episode saw an army of volunteers help to turn his home into one more suitable for his needs, after he was left requiring round-the-clock care following the assault.
Today, his widow Nicole, 48, said he had been ‘his usual self, laughing and smiling the day before’, adding that his death was a shock to her and their daughter Emily.
Cambridge United fan Simon Dobbin, pictured with his wife Nicole. He died today aged 48
Mr Dobbin is pictured (centre) with Cambridge fans at Southend United’s Roots Hall in 2015
Mr Dobbin is pictured in hospital on DIY SOS in January 2019 after he was left brain damaged
Mr Dobbin’s home was transformed by a team from DIY SOS, who provided him with his own bedroom for the first time in three years. Above: The back garden before the transformation
After: As part of the transformation led by Nick Knowles, large glass doors were added to the property and the garden was modernised so the family could get out and enjoy the space
In July 2017, Basildon Crown Court convicted 13 men over the attack. Nine men were found guilty of violent disorder, three of conspiracy to commit violent disorder and one of assisting an offender.
Three of the men were jailed for five years for violent disorder. Mr Dobbin attended court for the sentencing, but had to leave the room when he became upset.
In July, one of his attackers, Jamie Chambers, 27, was recalled to jail after admitting threatening behaviour and damage to a property while out on licence.
Today, a spokesman for Cambridge United said today: ‘It is with a heavy heart that Cambridge United can confirm we have received the devastating news that Simon Dobbin sadly passed away at home this morning. Sweet dreams Simon. Forever a U.
Mr Dobbin is pictured with his daughter Emily (left) and wife Nicole at Cambridge United FC
Pictured before the attack: Mr Dobbin, from Mildenhall in Suffolk, with his wife Nicole, 48
Mr Dobbin is pictured in hospital. A court convicted 13 men for their role in the attack in 2015
Police at the scene of the attack in Southend outside the Railway Tavern pub in the town
‘The thoughts of everybody at Cambridge United are with his wife Nicole, daughter Emily and his closest family and friends. We ask supporters to leave their messages of condolence for Simon’s family at this difficult time. Rest in peace, Simon.’
Also reacting to his death today was Southend United fan and singer Alison Moyet, who tweeted: ‘As a SUFC fan and musician for whom Shrimpers Club was my springboard, this news is stomach churning.
‘A precious life made forfeit to thuggery and that thuggery happening in our salmon stream. Ashamed.’
In February, Mrs Dobbin revealed that all of the ‘monsters’ who attacked her husband were already back on the street after being released from prison.
She told the Daily Mirror: ‘It feels like a slap in the face. Every time I look at Simon, I can see the damage they caused him. They are monsters. They didn’t give any consideration to what they were doing.’
Mr Dobbin was on his way home from watching Cambridge play Southend when rival supporters poured out of the Railway Tavern pub near Prittlewell train station and ‘jumped’ a group of Cambridge fans.
One witness, speaking after the attack, said the rival fans ‘just used [Mr Dobbin] like a football’, and said he was saved by a friend who laid on top of him.
Mr Dobbin suffered brain damage, damaged hips, broken ribs and a broken nose during the onslaught on and spent more than three weeks on life support.
Judge David Pugh handed down sentences to 12 of the 13 men convicted of offences in the case of Simon Dobbin.
Three of the men were jailed for five years – the maximum possible sentence for the offence of committing violent disorder – with sentences of varying lengths for the others.
The shortest sentence – 16 months – was given to Rhys Pullen, who admitted the charge of violent disorder earlier in proceedings.
A thirteenth man, Ian Young, was found guilty of assisting offenders by hiding them. He was given a suspended sentence a month after the other sentencings.
Mrs Dobbin demanded a ‘Simon’s Law’ to give tougher sentences to serious thugs in light of her husband’s attack.
Describing her proposed changes ‘Simon’s Law’, she wrote on a petition page: ‘How can someone be clinically dead for seven minutes and this be a violent public disorder? The law needs to changed around these cases and a higher sentence given.
‘I want the government to put Simon’s Law into place. Simon’s law will state that If an individual is charged and found guilty of a violent public disorder, causing harm to any other, then a percentage of earnings through employment or benefits, are taken from them and paid back to our NHS for the rest of their lives.’