Ex-striker King admits dangerous driving

Ex-Sheffield United striker Marlon King pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court to a charge of dangerous driving after a three-car crash left a motorist with a broken arm.

King committed the offence on his 33rd birthday while driving a Porsche Panamera on the A46 in Nottinghamshire on April 26 last year. The 35-year-old victim was airlifted to hospital after the collision in Winthorpe, near Newark.

King, of Torksey, Lincolnshire, was due to go on trial after pleading not guilty to dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.

But the footballer, who appeared in the dock wearing a blue suit and open-necked white shirt, changed his plea to guilty yesterday morning.

King, who also had loan spells with Leeds United and Hull City, is currently without a club after he was released by League One side Sheffield United in December.

The Jamaican international’s previous clubs include Gillingham, Nottingham Forest, Watford, Wigan, Coventry City and Birmingham City.

The player was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment in October 2009, after groping a young woman and then breaking her nose after she spurned his advances. His attempt to appeal his sentence was rejected by judges in 2010. He also served five months in prison in 2002 after being caught at the wheel of a stolen BMW.

At Nottingham Crown Court yesterday, Judge Nigel Godsmark QC told King he would adjourn sentencing for a pre-sentence report.

Defending King, Charles Langley asked that “alternatives” to a custodial sentence be considered and King was granted unconditional bail until May 2.