Footballer who beat woman with iron bar and forced her to eat paint joins Selby Town less than 18 months after being sentenced

Reece Thompson pleaded guilty in April last year to charges relating to the abuse of a woman.

Thompson, who was aged 25 at the time, was sentenced to 40 months at Nottingham Crown Court after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage. He was also given a 10-year restraining order against the woman, who claimed he had hit her with an iron bar, forced her to lick paint off the floor and smashed a mirror over her head in an ordeal which lasted for three days in September 2018.

Guiseley AFC, for whom Thompson played at the time of the offence, announced they had terminated Thompson's contract soon after.

Selby Town FC recently announced it would by trialling Thompson during its pre-season, saying that his sentence had been "served".

In a statement released today (Tuesday), the North Yorkshire club confirmed it would be keeping Thompson on and that it did not see the need to continue to punish him.

The club said: "With that sentence now served and with the ongoing work Reece carries out to understand and learn from his behaviour, we have come to the conclusion that it is not our place to continue to further punish Reece for his actions, he has received his punishment and carried out his sentence, and with that in mind we believe that a second chance could and should be provided both in employment and in recreation.

"Further to this, we believe that being part of our club and being surrounded by the strong management team we have in place can further help Reece to overcome his past and to ensure that he learns from his actions and is able to fulfil a role within society.

"We understand there will be many that disagree with our stance, likewise there will be those who believe he has served his sentence and should be allowed to now carry on with life. We hope going forward Reece will be judged on his actions from this point with his knowledge that the expectations and standard of behaviour expected of him are high."

The club has been contacted for further comment and the Ministry of Justice has also been contacted for a response.

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