Gillingham striker jailed

A top First Division footballer caught at the wheel of a stolen BMW convertible was jailed for 18 months today.

Gillingham striker Marlon King, 22, whose career now hangs in the balance, repeatedly tried to bluff his way out, telling police the car was his.

The £5m (€8m) rated player also insisted he had owned the vehicle - which had been fitted with false number plates - for two months, when in fact it had been taken from outside its owner’s home just four weeks earlier.

But the jury trying him showed little hesitation in rejecting his lies and unanimously convicting Gillingham’s leading asset and top goal scorer of one count of handling stolen goods last July.

King, from Bromley, Kent, showed little reaction as Inner London Crown Court Judge Nicholas Philpott rejected defence pleas that he should be allowed his freedom to pursue his career on the football field.

King had yesterday been acquitted of smashing a bottle over a plain clothed policeman’s head.