Wigan to sack jailed striker King

By Rappy
in The Sporting Arena

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan says Marlon King will never play for the club again after he was jailed for 18 months.

The striker, 29, was found guilty of sexual assault and actual bodily harm after he had been "cold-shouldered" by a female student in a London nightclub.

The incident occurred last December while he was on loan at Hull.

Whelan told BBC Radio 5 live: "We will now be in the process of severing his contract. To say the least I am really, really disappointed."

Whelan, who only learned on Tuesday that King was on trial at Southwark Crown Court, must follow Premier League rules and pay the player's wages for 14 days before terminating his contract.

The Latics chairman went on: "It's really upsetting and it just sets such a bad example for any youngster coming through who wants to be a professional footballer.

"He was on loan at the time to Hull City but I don't blame Hull City. Marlon King has got to accept full responsibility for this."

After groping and punching his victim at the Soho Revue Bar, breaking her nose, King briefly returned to Hull before spending a subsequent spell on loan at Middlesbrough.

The father of three, born in Dulwich, south London, finally made his way back to Wigan in the summer, but is now left without a club.

In 2002 King served five months of a two-year prison sentence for handling a stolen car before being released on appeal.

Whelan explained how King had kept the club in the dark about the incident.

"It's been kept quite secret by the player. We knew he did something but we didn't know exactly what it was. When you read how serious it was, I mean striking a girl and breaking her nose and messing about like that, we didn't realise the severity of what was happening here.

"We knew he'd been charged with something but I was shocked by what he had actually done and I was shocked by the sentence. But if he deserves it then he's got to do it.

"I sat down with Marlon at the start of the season and said 'Marlon, if you want to play for Wigan Athletic you've got to settle down, train hard and go on the field and give your best.

"He never mentioned anything about this case and he promised me that he was going to train hard and he actually has trained hard, I have to say that.

"Once he's served his sentence, if he manages to get back into football, so be it, but he will never pull on the shirt of Wigan Athletic again."

The Jamaica international started his league career with Barnet, before moving to Gillingham.

He was also signed to Nottingham Forest, who briefly loaned him out to Leeds United, and subsequently Watford.

In January 2008, he made his move to Wigan for an initial ?3m on a three-and-a-half year contract with a ?40,000-a-week salary.

BBC

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/839686-wigan-to-sack-jailed-striker-king/
Share on other sites
Rising Star

Toon_Army_Fan

Posted
Posted (edited)

I am a newcastle fan and this may not mean much to people outside of the UK so sorry in advance but I was surprised at the jail sentence he got. I agree he should have got it but we have a scum bag at our club called Joey Barton who beat a young guy up really bad while he was on bail for beating a former team mate so bad he had to go to hospital and all he got was 6 months or something but was let out early for good behaviour. I want to make it perfectly clear I dont support King in anway way and he deserved to go to jail but the law doesnt seem very consistant here.

I did however hear that this is his 12th court apperance since he turned a proffesional footballer so he clearly never learns!

Edited by Toon_Army_Fan
Grand Master

Subject Delta

Posted
Posted
Never again?

Yes, never again. He doesn't deserve his fame or money.

I am a newcastle fan and this may not mean much to people outside of the UK so sorry in advance but I was surprised at the jail sentence he got. I agree he should have got it but we have a scum bag at our club called Joey Barton who beat a young guy up really bad while he was on bail for beating a former team mate so bad he had to go to hospital and all he got was 6 months or something but was let out early for good behaviour. I want to make it perfectly clear I dont support King in anway way and he deserved to go to jail but the law doesnt seem very consistant here.

I did however hear that this is his 12th court apperance since he turned a proffesional footballer so he clearly never learns!

Agreed, Joey Barton is a disgusting individual he should definitely have been banned from the game as his violence transfers to the field as well, I once remember him getting sent off against Liverpool for an absolutely horrifying tackle that luckily didn't seriously injure the Liverpool player, it was so bad that even the manager said he deserved to get sent off, and Newcastle's own fans where even going apes*** about his on pitch stupidity. Sad really but our justice system is pathetic.

Grand Master

deletedxyz

Posted
Posted

What an absolute disgrace of a soccer player.

He needs to get his head checked. He has so much talent and wasted it all with this terrible crimes.

The striker, 29, was found guilty of sexual assault and actual bodily harm after he had been "cold-shouldered" by a female student in a London nightclub... After groping and punching his victim at the Soho Revue Bar, breaking her nose, King briefly returned to Hull before spending a subsequent spell on loan at Middlesbrough in January...

In 2002 King, who lives in Hertfordshire, served five months of a two-year prison sentence for handling a stolen car before being released on appeal.

A year later, he was convicted for common assault on two women he chased through London with a belt wrapped round his fist. And in 2006 he was convicted of threatening behaviour after slapping another woman and then spitting at her when police arrived.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/t...tic/8332728.stm

Rising Star

Toon_Army_Fan

Posted
Posted

He will be out by next year and some hero manager will take him on thinking that he can change him blah blah blah! Big sam tried it with barton and so did keegan. I am all for the concept of prision service changing people around etc and then giving people a second chance cause we all deserve that but he has had so many and to throw away a professional football career is just Wrong!

Not necessarily related to this, but do assault charges take in to account provocation (i.e., verbal provocation)?

Not sure but it must do. It has too but If he got put away for 18 months I would assume there wasnt that much provocation.

Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

Posted
  • Author
  • Veteran
Posted

King has future in game - Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes disgraced striker Marlon King should be allowed to return to football after serving his 18-month prison sentence.

The 29-year-old was convicted of sexual assault and causing actual bodily harm after an incident in a London club.

"When he has paid his sentence, of course you would consider signing someone like that," said Wenger.

But Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said that King would never play for the Craven Cottage side.

King underwent a medical at Fulham in January 2008 but owner Mohamed Al Fayed ended interest in the transfer because of his criminal past.

In 2002 King, then playing for Gillingham, served five months of a two-year prison sentence for handling a stolen car before being released on appeal.

Other previous convictions include dishonesty and a range of motoring offences, including drink-driving.

After his sentencing on Thursday, Wigan chairman Dave Whelan was quick to announce his intention to sack the player but the Latics must follow Premier League rules and pay the player's wages for 14 days before terminating his contract.

King has indicated he will appeal against the length of his jail sentence as well as his dismissal, but Hodgson admitted Fulham's failure to sign King last year was a lucky escape.

"I think we got lucky in that we didn't sign him. I'd only just come to the club and didn't know the player at all," said Hodgson.

"All I knew about him was his goalscoring record and the information I was able to gather, which was not sufficiently detailed.

"There was a problem with the medical and it also became a problem when we found out he had a jail sentence.

"Mohamed Al Fayed was not at all keen on that so the transfer was allowed to collapse and he went to Wigan instead."

Although King's agent Tony Finnigan insists that the player will continue his football career after he is released from prison, Hodgson stressed that Fulham would never consider reviving their interest in the player.

"Marlon's agent is fairly clear on the subject and has a very cynical view," added Hodgson.

"He believes there is no moral judgement in football and the fact the person we're talking about can score goals will blot any moral values people will have.

"I don't know if that's true, but I know he won't be signed by Fulham. The owner of our club would not embrace that type of signing and I as a manager would not embrace it."

But Wenger feels that King has a future in the game after his release from prison.

"I believe that you have justice and it's not my justice, it is the justice that England has decided to apply to his case," stated Wenger.

"Otherwise you would never forgive anybody anything. When he has paid his sentence, some clubs if they want, they will take him."

Finnigan criticised the stance of the Professional Footballers Association, after spokesman Bobby Barnes admitted the player had brought the situation on himself.

But PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor defended its position, saying it was under no obligation to stand by players who break the law and had not even been approached by King.

In a statement on the PFA website, Taylor said: "The PFA does not represent players when they have broken the law and been convicted on non-footballing matters.

"Nevertheless, should any member with anger management or other issues approach us for assistance we are always happy to provide that assistance through the Sporting Chance Clinic, as has been the case with other such high-profile cases.

"We have never been approached by Marlon King or his representatives for such assistance and are therefore unable to rely on any information other than the conviction and sentencing on Thursday."

Rising Star

Nayos

Posted
Posted
Yep. Having your sexual advances rejected doesn't legally count as provocation though :laugh:

Lol, no that's why I said it's not related. But I imagine if someone had say slept with your girlfriend and then you saw them out and they were mocking you for it, you'd most definitely punch them. I'd say that would count as provocation

Grand Master

Subject Delta

Posted
Posted
Lol, no that's why I said it's not related. But I imagine if someone had say slept with your girlfriend and then you saw them out and they were mocking you for it, you'd most definitely punch them. I'd say that would count as provocation

Yep. I'd probably punch them, and i'd definitely argue provocation :laugh:

Grand Master

metallithrax

Posted
Posted
and pay the player's wages for 14 days before terminating his contract.

This is the sort of **** thats gets me.

He will get ?70,000 before his contract is ended.

Takes me a few years to EARN that. These dip**** footballers get paid way too much.

Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

Posted
  • Author
  • Veteran
Posted

emily_top_0111_64072a.jpg

Our shock pictures reveal the awful aftermath of the beating that left Emily spattered head to toe in blood, her teeth forced through her lip and her nose badly broken - disfigured for life.

She added: "King's defence moaned that the sentence would lose him ?1 million in earnings - but I've lost my FACE. He's not fit ever to play for any team again."

Emily, just 5ft tall, decided to speak out to heap shame on 6ft 1in Jamaican international King - who is still protesting his innocence - and ensure the world sees him for the thug he is.

In a moving interview she told how the 29-year-old Premier League player:

* GROPED her bottom in front of shocked clubbers.

* TAUNTED her about his vast wealth when she complained.

* POWERED up his devastating punch with a deliberate step back to gather strength for the blow that knocked her off her feet.

* ORDERED a beefy pal to make a menacing "apology" implying it was HER fault.

* FORCED her to endure a harrowing trial by refusing to admit his guilt.

NOTW

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along

      By +Edouard · Posted

      @Sayan...I have defended you at various points as I hope you know. This headline however is utter trash...shame on you sir!
    • An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along

      By hellowalkman · Posted

      An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along by Sayan Sen Image by Kovin P. Vasquez via Pexels | Not representative An international team of researchers has solved a long-standing mystery surrounding a distant blazar known as PKS 1424+240, helping explain why it produces some of the brightest high-energy gamma rays and cosmic neutrinos ever observed despite appearing to have a relatively slow-moving jet. The findings were published on June 6 in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters. The study addresses a broader challenge in astrophysics: understanding how extreme cosmic objects accelerate particles to very high energies and produce very high-energy (VHE) photons and neutrinos. PKS 1424+240 is located billions of light-years from Earth. It has attracted attention for years because it is both a powerful source of VHE gamma rays and the brightest known neutrino-emitting blazar in the sky, according to observations by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. It is also associated with one of the strongest peaks in IceCube's nine-year neutrino sky map A blazar is a type of active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole that pulls in surrounding matter and launches jets of plasma moving close to the speed of light. What makes blazars unique is their orientation. One of their jets points almost directly toward Earth, making them appear exceptionally bright across the electromagnetic spectrum and allowing scientists to study some of the most extreme physical processes in the Universe. The scientists exclaimed it's like the 'Eye of Sauron' in deep space. Usually, the brightest gamma-ray-emitting blazars are expected to have jets that appear to move very quickly. However, radio observations of PKS 1424+240 suggested that its jet was moving much more slowly, creating a contradiction that became part of a long-running problem known as the "Doppler factor crisis." To investigate, researchers analyzed 15 years of observations from the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a network of 10 radio antennas spread across the continental United States, Hawaii and St. Croix. Using a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), astronomers combine signals from widely separated radio telescopes to create a virtual Earth-sized telescope capable of revealing extremely fine details. The team combined 42 polarization-sensitive radio images collected between 2009 and 2025, creating a much deeper and more detailed view of the jet than had previously been possible. The observations were carried out as part of MOJAVE (Monitoring Of Jets in Active galactic nuclei with VLBA Experiments), a long-running program that studies the brightness, polarization and magnetic field structures of jets produced by active galaxies. The project aims to better understand how activity near supermassive black holes is linked to high-energy radiation and neutrino emission. “When we reconstructed the image, it looked absolutely stunning,” said Yuri Kovalev, lead author of the study and Principal Investigator of the European Research Council-funded MuSES project at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. “We have never seen anything quite like it — a near-perfect toroidal magnetic field with a jet, pointing straight at us.” The image revealed an unusual geometry. The researchers found that Earth lies almost directly in line with the jet, with a viewing angle of less than 0.6 degrees. In simple terms, astronomers are looking almost straight down the jet. This turned out to be the key to the mystery. Because the jet is aimed almost directly at Earth, a relativistic effect called Doppler boosting dramatically increases its apparent brightness. The study found that this effect boosts the emission by a factor of about 30 while also making the jet appear slower than it actually is. “This alignment causes a boost in brightness by a factor of 30 or more,” said Jack Livingston, a co-author at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. “At the same time, the jet appears to move slowly due to projection effects — a classic optical illusion.” The nearly head-on view also gave scientists a rare look at the jet's magnetic field. Using polarized radio signals, they detected a clear toroidal, or doughnut-shaped, magnetic field component. The observations suggest the jet carries an electric current and that its magnetic field helps launch, shape and stabilize the flow of plasma. Researchers believe this magnetic structure may also play a key role in accelerating particles to energies high enough to produce both gamma rays and neutrinos. “Solving this puzzle confirms that active galactic nuclei with supermassive black holes are not only powerful accelerators of electrons, but also of protons — the origin of the observed high-energy neutrinos,” Kovalev said. The research was conducted under the MuSES (Multi-messenger Studies of Energetic Sources) project, which investigates how active galactic nuclei accelerate particles and generate different cosmic signals, including light and neutrinos. Scientists say understanding how protons are accelerated and linked to neutrino production remains one of the major unanswered questions in astrophysics. The findings help explain why some blazars can appear to have slow jets while still producing extremely bright high-energy emissions. More broadly, the study strengthens the link between relativistic jets, magnetic fields, gamma rays and high-energy neutrinos. Researchers say the results provide new clues about how some of the Universe's most powerful natural particle accelerators work and offer important insights for multimessenger astronomy, which combines different types of cosmic signals to study extreme events in space. Source: European Research Council, EDP Sciences This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, this material is used for the purpose of news reporting. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
    • What browser do you prefer to use, and why?

      By AnotherITguy · Posted

      Edge
    • Classic Outlook vs New Outlook — Which one do you prefer and why?

      By AnotherITguy · Posted

      Gotenks98 is right... Outlook (new) is absolute trash. Doesn't Mozilla have an Enterprise Version of Firebird?
    • Microsoft Weekly: Surface Laptop Ultra, Windows 11 context menus, Build 2026 recap, and more

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Microsoft Weekly: Surface Laptop Ultra, Windows 11 context menus, Build 2026 recap, and more by Taras Buria This week's news recap is here, with Microsoft announcing the new Surface Laptop Ultra, fresh chips from NVIDIA for Windows on ARM, a no-build week, fixes for Windows 11's context menus, gaming news, reviews, and more. Quick links: Windows 10 and 11 Windows Insider Program Updates are available Reviews are in Gaming news Great deals to check Windows 11 and Windows 10 Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions. At Computex 2026, together with NVIDIA, Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop Ultra, its most powerful laptop to date, powered by NVIDIA's RTX Spark processor. Details about this computer are currently scarce, as Microsoft has only revealed certain parts of its specs. So far, we know that the computer has a 15-inch mini-LED display, a rich set of ports, a powerful processor, and all-day battery life. It also comes with a new wallpaper, which you can already download here in full resolution. The Surface Laptop Studio is not the only NVIDIA-powered Surface, which Microsoft unveiled this week. At Build 2026, the company also debuted the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, an odd-shaped desktop with a 20-core NVIDIA Grace CPU and an NVIDIA Blackwell RTX GPU with 6,144 CUDA cores and fifth-generation Tensor Cores with FP4 precision, connected via the NVIDIA NVLink-C2C chip-to-chip interconnect for high performance. According to Microsoft, it can run models with up to 120 billion parameters locally without relying on cloud GPU infrastructure. These two new Surface devices are likely to cost quite a lot, and for those who need a more affordable device, Microsoft is preparing the next-gen Qualcomm-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. This week, details about these two devices leaked in plenty of detail. Other announcements at Build 2026 include the following: Microsoft unveils new security tools for IT admins and developers building AI products Microsoft announces Scout, an OpenClaw-powered personal agent for enterprise customers Microsoft unveils MAI-Thinking-1 reasoning and MAI-Code-1 coding models Microsoft announced a new Windows 11 native command-line utility Microsoft unveils Majorana 2 quantum chip, accelerating commercial timeline to 2029 Microsoft believes that AI agents will eventually replace apps through Project Solara Microsoft introduces Web IQ, a Bing-powered search system built for AI agents Last week, Microsoft released a new Experimental build, which introduced a major Start menu upgrade. It now lets you toggle off specific parts of the menu without affecting other features, resize the menu, and hide additional UI elements. We published a closer look here, so if you want to know what Microsoft is cooking without enrolling in the Insider program and installing unstable builds, check it out. Speaking of new features, many users are very annoyed about the way Microsoft delivers them. Recently, a frustrated user shared their experience with gradual rollouts, and even Microsoft engineers admitted there is a flaw in the system that prevents new features from applying properly. One of those new features includes the ability to uninstall AI models in Windows 11 with a single click. Windows 11 is finally getting fixes for its slow context menus. Marcus Ash from Microsoft confirmed that the company is working on fixing Windows 11's context menus. Reworked context menus are going to be faster, simpler by default, and "configurable to what you use most." According to Marcus, Microsoft will share more details soon. Windows Insider Program Windows 11 preview builds, released last week, are now available for download as standalone ISO files. These days, Microsoft regularly pushes new images, allowing users to clean-install its recent Windows 11 preview builds faster and easier. If you want to try the latest Windows 11 features without jumping through the Windows Update hoops, get those new images here. Sadly, Microsoft did not release new Windows 11 preview builds this week. Come back next time. Updates are available This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties. Microsoft is preparing new features for Teams. Later this month, the messenger will receive a new download manager with auto-dismissing notifications, reducing clutter and making the overall experience less annoying when dealing with downloads. Mozilla released Firefox 151.0.3, a new bug-fixing update for the browser. It is a small release, which fixes problems with pasting into text fields and the oversized VPN button on the toolbar. The update is now available for all users in the Release channel. Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting: VS Code 1.123 introduces massive upgrades for persistent AI developer workflows Microsoft OneDrive is getting a simple yet much-needed feature Microsoft faces heat after quietly blocking promised Office features on Apple systems Microsoft resumes forced Copilot app installation on some Windows PCs Browser vendors pen an open letter to Microsoft, saying "enough is enough" Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week: AMD Radeon Software 26.6.1 with optimizations for F1 25: 2026 Season, World of Tanks: HEAT, and various bug fixes. Reviews are in Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week Steven Parker dropped more mini PC reviews this week. GEEKOM Air12 2026 Edition is a low-power, affordable computer with an Intel Tiger Lake Pentium Gold processor, up to 16GB of memory, and 512GB of storage, costing just $349. It is light, quiet, energy efficient, and has modern ports on the front. However, the front-facing USB Type-C is data-only, and there are some quirks with the computer's memory, so check out the full review. The AMD RX 9070 GRE has been released worldwide, and we published a benchmark review comparing this powerful graphics card to the RX 9070 XT, 7800 XT, the NVIDIA RTX 5070, and RTX 4070. It has solid, balanced performance, plenty of RAM, and low temperatures, but watch out for mediocre ray tracing performance and not the best efficiency. Also, we reviewed the Cuktech 10 Ultra, a compact, high-power charger with four ports and a big display full of various stats. This tiny charger can pull nearly 120W and spread that power according to each connected device's needs. It also comes with a high-quality 240W cable, three power modes, and retractable prongs. The best part? It is quite affordable, just make sure you have an outlet placed in the right spot to benefit from the built-in display. On the gaming side Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more. Do you remember the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, Microsoft's first handheld console designed in partnership with ASUS? This week, ASUS revealed a new version of the device to celebrate twenty years of its Republic of Gamers brand. The new ROG Xbox Ally X20 features an OLED display, a transforming D-Pad, TMR sticks, and other changes. However, the chip inside the console is still the same. Forza Horizon 6 launched last month to critical acclaim, but the game will soon have a new rival made by those who used to work on Forza Horizon titles. Mike Brown from Maverick Games announced Clutch, an upcoming racing game with a story-driven campaign, deep car customization, and rich multiplayer. The game is coming to PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 in Spring 2027. The next update for Minecraft now has a release date. This week, Mojang announced that Chaos Cubed will be available on June 16, 2026. In addition, Mojang published a teaser of the next Minecraft movie. A Minecraft Movie Squared has now been confirmed for a release somewhere in 2027. NVIDIA GeForce Now is getting 18 new games in June. Those include Jurassic World Evolution 3, Fatekeeper, GOALS, Gothic 1 Remake, NTE: Neverness to Everness, and more. If you are a Game Pass subscriber, you can also get new games soon: Persona 5 Royal, Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions, and more are coming to the service this month. Sumer Game Fest 2026 happened this week, where we saw plenty of new games, including Alien Isolation 2, Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3, Gen Atlas from the Shadow of the Colossus creator, a new Cuphead game in 8-bit style, a new expansion for Mafia: The Old Country, and more. Finally, here are this week's Weekend PC Game Deals, full of discounts and the latest freebies from the Epic Games Store. Other gaming news includes the following: God of War Laufey announced, introducing Kratos' wife as the new protagonist Ori studio's No Rest for the Wicked 1.0 release and console plans announced Microsoft launches Godot Sample to streamline Xbox PC game development on the engine Great deals to check Every week, we cover many deals on different hardware and software. The following discounts are still available, so check them out. You might find something you want or need. Samsung 990 PRO SSD 2TB NVMe - $389.99 | 39% off Sonos Sub 4 - Wireless Subwoofer - $759 | 16% off Logitech MX Creative Console - $159.99 | 20% off This link will take you to other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing for extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option.

  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      lamborghiniv10 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      lamborghiniv10 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Reacting Well
      X-No-file earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • One Month Later
      pestcontrol46 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      pestcontrol46 earned a badge
      Week One Done

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      511
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      273
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      75
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      72
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      68
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!