Training | 2009.10.29
Wigan striker King jailed for assault
• Striker hit 20-year-old in nightclub, breaking her nose
• King sacked by Wigan as a result of conviction
Marlon King was jailed for 18 months today after being found guilty at Southwark crown court of assaulting a woman in a nightclub and breaking her nose when she spurned his "disgusting" advances.
The 29-year-old has also been sacked by his club, Wigan, the chairman, Dave Whelan, has confirmed. "We have to follow the rules and regulations, which means we will have to give him 40 days\' notice that his contract will be cancelled.
"He is absolutely sacked – we will not tolerate football players who get sent to jail for 18 months. As far as we are concerned, he is finished with football at Wigan Athletic."
King, from Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, said he was a victim of "mistaken identity". But after hearing evidence from a string of witnesses, including a football coach who said King was the assailant, the jury convicted him of sexually assaulting the 20-year-old and causing actual bodily harm.
The court heard that the striker, who was on loan at Hull City at the time, was celebrating his wife\'s pregnancy and scoring a winning goal hours earlier, and had been repeatedly "cold-shouldered" by women in the packed Soho Revue Bar in London last December.
When a slightly built university student shunned him, he lost his temper and in an outburst of "completely gratuitous violence" struck out, "smashing" her to the floor. His single clenched-fist blow was so powerful that two other revellers – one of them holding on to his arm – were also sent flying.
While bouncers moved in to restrain King, friends rushed to the aid of his victim. As she was helped to her feet, blood poured from her shattered nose, the court was told.
King, who has 13 international caps for Jamaica, was on loan at Middlesbrough during the second half of last season. His career began in 1998 as a trainee at Barnet, and has taken in spells at Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Watford.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/[...]rlon-king-convicted-of-assault
