A CONVICTED football hooligan launched an unprovoked attack on left-wing activist Owen Jones because of the journalist’s sexuality and political views, a judge has ruled.

James Healy, 40, admitted assaulting Jones outside a pub in north London last August, but claimed it was because the victim had bumped into him and spilled his drink.

The Chelsea fan, who has a string of convictions for football-related violence, denied being motivated by the Guardian columnist’s sexuality or political campaigning, claiming he didn’t even know who he was.

Assaults deemed to be hate crimes can attract significantly longer sentences from the courts.

After his arrest, a search of Healy’s home found a number of items connected to far-right ideology including a collection of pin badges linked to white supremacist groups and a football hooligan flag adorned with SS symbols. Following a two-day hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court in London, Recorder Judge Anne Studd QC ruled that the attack could only have been motivated by Jones’s media profile as a left-wing polemicist.

Healy pleaded guilty to affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm at a previous hearing.

Two co-defendants who previously pleaded guilty to affray over the incident are due to be sentenced on February 11. A date for Healy’s sentencing has yet to be set.