Footballer Marlon King has been jailed for 18 months for sexually assaulting a woman - and has been sacked by Premier League club Wigan Athletic as a result. The striker was repeatedly "cold-shouldered" by the 20-year-old student in a bar in central London last December, Southwark Crown Court heard. He groped her and then punched her, leaving her with a broken nose. The father-of-three, from Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, had insisted it was a case of mistaken identity. The jury returned a unanimous verdict, however, and King was convicted of sexually assaulting the woman and causing actual bodily harm. The assault happened at the Soho Revue Bar at a time when he was on loan with Hull City. King was celebrating two occasions - his wife's latest pregnancy and the scoring of a winning goal - with a night out in the West End. He was repeatedly "cold-shouldered" by women in the bar, the court heard. 'Gratuitous violence' Prosecution lawyer Roger Daniells-Smith said King had struck up a conversation with his victim by saying: "Don't you know who I am? I'm a millionaire." The court heard she replied: "I don't care who you are; take your millionaire self away from our table." He groped the woman and she told him: "Don't do that, it's not nice. Don't touch me." King was warned off her again but he continued to stroke the woman's hair and then told her she was not in his league, the court heard. After she pushed him in the chest, King lost his temper and a moment of "completely gratuitous violence" led to him "smashing" the victim to the floor, jurors were told. Two other people standing beside him were also knocked away as a result of the force of the blow he inflicted. Several witnesses testified that King was responsible, despite his denial. They included a football coach who insisted the 29-year-old Jamaican international was the assailant. Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan said King "was finished with football" at the club. "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 told Sky Sports News. "He is absolutely sacked. We will not tolerate football players who get sent to jail for 18 months."
