Premier League star jailed and sacked

Premier League footballer Marlon King has been jailed for 18 months for groping a young woman and then breaking her nose. The 29-year-old player was sacked by his club Wigan Athletic within an hour of him starting a new life behind bars. London's Southwark Crown Court heard the £5 million striker launched the "unprovoked" attack after repeatedly being snubbed by women in the Soho Revue Bar in December 2008. When the university student "recoiled" from his touch, King lashed out and "smashed" her to the floor. As his victim was helped to her feet, blood poured from her shattered nose and cut lip. The £35,000-a-week footballer, from Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, who will now lose more than £1 million following the termination of his contract, claimed he was the victim of "mistaken identity". But the jury took just under four hours to convict him by a 10-2 majority of sexually assaulting the 20-year-old and causing her actual bodily harm.

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ITN | October 29, 2009

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