Footballer jailed for horror tackle

[Ng'wanza Madaso]

Footballer jailed for horror tackle

Eurosport - Thu, 04 Mar 17:36:00 2010

A Sunday league player has become the first footballer to be jailed for an on-field offence after a pointless horror-tackle that broke an opponent's leg in two places.


Striker Mark Chapman, 20, received a six-month sentence for the tackle from behind on Terry Johnson that effectively put an end to the 26-year-old's chances of playing again.

Chapman, who committed the foul with just seconds left of a game his team Long Lawford were losing 3-1 to the Wheeltappers, admitted the offense at Warwick Crown Court.

"It's ruined my life, I will never be able to play football again," said father-of-two Johnson, who needed a steel rod inserted in his leg after the injury.

Johnson, an electrician, has been unable to work and support his family since Chapman committed the studs-first tackle.

"The ball was running out of play in the Wheeltappers' half and Terry Johnson was shadowing it out of play as it crossed the touchline," said prosecutor Iain Willis.

"The defendant continued to close in and used a stamping motion with a raised right foot, with the studs showing, on the back and side of his right leg.

"The referee said it was a callous deliberate act with intent to cause injury to the player."

Chapman's defence tried to draw parallels with the recent Premier League incident that saw Arsenal youngster Aaron Ramsey suffer a double fracture in a challenge from Stoke's Ryan Shawcross.

But Judge Robert Orme dismissed the similarities and described Chapman's tackle as a "deliberate act, a premeditated act".

"The result of what you did was that Mr Johnson suffered a badly broken leg - it horrified those who saw it," added Judge Orme.

"I accept you showed very early remorse and there is substantial mitigation which can be put forward for you.

"But I have also had to consider the position of the victim and your very deliberate criminal act."

An FA spokesman confirmed it was the first time a footballer had been jailed for an on-field incident.

He said: "It's the first time anyone has been sent to prison for a tackle.

"There have been two cases where people were sent to prison for other incidents on the pitch, but nothing like this."

Eurosport

[Arsene Wenger]

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