Afternoon:
9°c
Premier League footballer Marlon King sentenced to 18 months in jail
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent30 Oct 2009
Premier League football star Marlon King was sentenced to 18 months after being convicted of groping a woman's bottom in a club then breaking her nose when she rejected him.
King, 29, had left the 5ft tall student with blood streaming down her face from the blow which left two other women reeling.
The strapping Wigan Athletic striker claimed he had been the victim of mistaken identity.
But a number of witnesses identified him and he was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court today of sexual assault and causing actual bodily harm in the attack in the Soho Revue Bar last December.
King has such a long record that even his own lawyer once compared his tarnished record to that of disgraced boxing rapist Mike Tyson.
In 2002 solicitor advocate Michael Conning said: "His reputation will be tarnished forever, whatever success he achieves, he'll always be referred to in a Tyson-esque way as someone who has had a criminal past and that is a considerable penalty."
On the field he has enjoyed a meteoric rise from non-leauge Dulwich Hamlet to Barnet, then Gillingham, Nottingham Forest, Watford. He was on loan at Premiership club Hull City when he launched the night club attack.
He has represented Jamaica and commanded transfer fees totalling millions of pounds.
But off the field his record is far less glamorous.
While at Gillingham he was arrested for assaulting a police officer and driving a stolen BMW. At Inner London Crown Court in May 2002 he was cleared by a jury of assaulting PC Mark Searle after claiming he was trying to diffuse a "vicious row" between the officer and a footballing friend.
The jury did not hear King was one-and-a-half times over the legal drink-driving limit and had no insurance for which he was disqualified for 12 months and fined £450 for drink driving and a further £200 the second offence.
Following a second trial he was convicted of handling a stolen £30,000 BMW cabriolet - and his criminal past emerged in court.
The footballer had used a cloned credit card to buy a £1,200 laptop computer and smashed a glass panel when he was caught.
The court heard King had previous convictions, including wounding in 1997, theft from a person in May 1999, two counts of fraudulent use of a vehicle license and theft.
Bizarrely he had also told a probation officer that he was working for his dad as a labourer when he was constantly in the local paper headlines for scoring a hatful of goals for Gillingham.
King claimed he had bought the X-registration BMW from a "bloke named Bigga" but was found guilty and jailed for 18 months.
The term was later reduced to five months.
King joined Wigan Athletic in January 2008, but was loaned to Hull City and Middlesborough the following season.
In November 2008 he was involved in a fracas with then-Hull teammate Dean Windass in a casino in Scarborough and fell out with manager Phil Brown.
The following month King was banned from driving for 56 days after being caught speeding at 106mph on a 60mph road.
Five days later he was arrested over the nightclub assault.
So far this season he has made three substitute appearances in the Premier League. His only start came in the Carling Cup second round.
Reader views (21)
@Alan
"I'm not surprised, it seems to be the case that as soon as someone from an ethnic background is found guilty or has been found in the wrong they pull the race card. "
Whenever someone pulls the race card the people of this country show what they really think about ethnic minorities. Marlon's a guilty idiot but it amazes me how many sweeping generalisations get made following one fools quest to evade the law. Loads of us who aren’t millionaires lead normal law abiding lives and accept the consequences of our actions should we transgress the same.
Institutionalised racism is real but has nothing to do with the case at hand. You should not try to belittle the phenomena simply because it has been misused - terror laws are misused by certain police officers but should we say that whenever terror laws are invoked they are merely a fabrication made up to evade the law? Or does that require you to think too much?
- Anonofcourse, london uk, 30/10/2009 14:52
Report abuse
How can you have a criminal record as long as his, be held bang to rights on viciously assaulting a woman half your size and only get 18 months? I know people without his rap sheet who have been sent down for longer for their first offence on a lesser charge. The justice system in this country is ridiculous!
Oh, and I see his wife has been sticking by him! What a coward she is too! She should be divorcing and fleecing the guy after these despicable actions he committed while he was supposedly out "celebrating" her pregnancy, not sticking by him!
- Steven, London, 30/10/2009 14:23
Report abuse
One of the strangest things about this case is that Mr King was out celebrating that his wife was pregnant! What must she think?
- Suzanne, London, UK, 30/10/2009 14:16
Report abuse
I understand that he is going to appeal. I hope they up his sentance.
- Phil George, Castro Marim Portugal, 30/10/2009 12:33
Report abuse
This young lady should sue him raw and his club should drop him. There are plenty of other people who can kick a ball and abide by the law without further lining the pockets of this trash.
- Squiz, Islington, 30/10/2009 12:26
Report abuse
Another low-life waste of space with a few quid in his back pocket thinking he can swagger around attacking people and thinking he can get away with it. What a big man he is, assaulting a petit young woman. Marlon King you are a disgrace. As for the the comment that "his friends in the public gallery claims the sentence was institutionalised racism". If they did, I'm not surprised, it seems to be the case that as soon as someone from an ethnic background is found guilty or has been found in the wrong they pull the race card. Maybe Mr. King should have accepted what he had done and took responsibility for once in his life, instead of being a coward and bully.
- Alan, East London, 30/10/2009 11:54
Report abuse
Just because you are a footballer and have got a few quid it doesnt mean you can go around assaulting woman when they blank you.Mr King will find out when he arrives in prison that his money and reputation will count for nothing,cons do not take kindly to people who are charged with sexual assault,and I am sure his stay will not be very comfortable.
- Jim Ex Pat,Islington N1, thailand, 30/10/2009 10:41
Report abuse
What a quality role model for black youths to look up to.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 30/10/2009 09:54
Report abuse
An absolute discrace - This cowardly man should have been sentenced to a minimum of 5 years, with no remission.
- Robbie Wigan, Wigan, 30/10/2009 08:47
Report abuse
The women he attacked should now sue him for every penny he's got. There are plenty of no win no fee firms who would do it for them.
- Frederick, London, 30/10/2009 07:47
Report abuse
This just reinforces my impression of the football industry, which could end tomorrow without the world being one bit poorer. Both on and off the pitch it attracts the lout.
- David Chown, bordeaux france, 30/10/2009 06:36
Report abuse
A THUG who has been given so many chances - he could have made good but obviously decided his crime ridden lifestyle suited him better. I hope that Hull drop him like a ton of bricks. He sends out a message that crime pays - it's no wonder the police and public get despondent with 'justice' because it doesn't seem to have been done in this case. Maybe he has a mental problem??
- Bj, sydney Australia, 29/10/2009 21:54
Report abuse
What a disgusting rat, he smashes a 5ft slip of a girl to the ground and breaks her nose and his friends in the public gallery claims the sentence was institutionalised racism. Hopefully it will be the end of the thugs career.
- James, Manchester England, 29/10/2009 20:15
Report abuse
At Last!!! Some good news this week, but why only 18mths - hopefully there will be bigger people in prison who don't take lightly to girl bashing....
- Intelligencia, Warwickshire, 29/10/2009 20:03
Report abuse
Good riddance,
Maybe he can play for Porridge Plodders FC.
- Macdangler, Wimbledon SW19, 29/10/2009 20:02
Report abuse
Bgi headed bully should get 18 years
- Joe, bromley england, 29/10/2009 19:06
Report abuse
He should also be forced to pay compensation
- Ed, London, 29/10/2009 18:30
Report abuse
What a shame and what a stupid man he is !
- Joe, Swanley Kent, 29/10/2009 18:25
Report abuse
Seems like he is going to spend some time where he belongs!
- Kevin Sullivan, Roehampton, London., 29/10/2009 17:27
Report abuse
At last a sentance that reflects the crime.Lets hope this sentance makes other proffesional footballers think they are not above the law.
- Phil George, Castro Marim Portugal, 29/10/2009 17:16
Report abuse
To hit any innocent bystander is unforgivable. To break a young womans's nose because she resists your 'gropings' should be punishable with a jail term, and I am very glad the judge in this case has sentenced this pitiful bully to 18 months. He should also pay an enormous fine, as this will help our national debt and he is overpaid, anyway.
- Sidney Marks, London, UK, 29/10/2009 17:14
Report abuse
