Assault victim calls for life ban for footballer

THE woman groped and punched by Premier League footballer Marlon King waived her right to anonymity yesterday to call for his life ban from the game.

Emily Carr, 20, said she suffered permanent damage after the £35,000 (€39,000)-a-week star broke her nose in a West End club when she rebuffed his advance.

With Wigan Athletic striker King, who was sacked by his club, starting an 18-month jail sentence for the assault, the law student told the News of the World: “King’s defence moaned that the sentence would lose him £1 million (€1.117m) in earnings – but I’ve lost my face. He’s not fit ever to play for any team again.”

The married father-of-three was celebrating his wife’s pregnancy and scoring a winning goal earlier that day. Kingston University student Ms Carr said she was minding her own business with friends when he groped her.

“It wasn’t just a little pinch, it was a squeeze done in a sexual way,” she said. “I was really offended.... I looked him in the eye and slowly told him, ‘Don’t do that! Don’t touch me!’”

10 minutes later King, 29, returned to her group, she added, and launched into a tirade before punching her in the face.