Should Marlon King be Banned From the Premier League for Life After his Sexual Assault Conviction?
Marlon King, who plays for Premier League club Wigan Athletic, has been found guilty of sexual assault and causing actual bodily harm. He was sacked by the club and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
King, a father of three, was celebrating his wife's pregnancy and scoring a winning goal at Revue Bar in London's Soho district when he groped Emily Carr, a 20-year old university student, who was in the same club. Carr reportedly asked King not to touch her.
The footballer allegedly started shouting "Don't you know who I am, I'm a millionaire love ... you are not even in my league" and then he took one step back and smashed her in the face with a clenched fist, breaking her nose with a blow. Carr said,"It was like being hit with a brick in the face."
This wasn't the first incident for the 29-year old King. He has a criminal record (a total of 13 convictions) which dates back to when he was 19 and includes dishonesty, assault, theft, criminal damage, drunken-driving, receiving a stolen £30,000 BMW and violence against women. In 2003, King was convicted of common assaults on two women whom he allegedly chased through Soho with a belt wrapped round his fist, one of whom he reportedly punched in the face. In 2006, he was convicted of threatening behavior after allegedly slapping a woman on the head and bottom and then spitting at her, for which he was fined £800.
Carr has called for him to be banned from the game for life. She said that King's lawyers had been moaning about their client losing £1 million in earnings, while she said she had significant damage to her face.
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