Premier League footballer charged with assaulting police officer

A Premier League footballer has today been charged with assaulting a police officer outside a nightclub.

West Ham defender James Tomkins, 24, was arrested after officers were called to the Sugar Hut Village club in Brentwood, Essex, shortly before 12.30am yesterday.

Police were alerted by security staff at the venue, which has regularly featured on the ITV2 series 'The Only Way Is Essex'.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “Officers arrived and arrested James Tomkins before charging him with one count of assaulting a police officer, one count of resisting arrest and one count of being drunk and disorderly in a public place.”

Tomkins, a former England U-21 international who appeared for Team GB at the Olympics last year, had played for West Ham hours before the incident in their 3-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Tomkins, from Brentwood, Essex, has been released on police bail and will appear at Basildon Magistrates’ Court on January 9.