Star footballer is convicted of assaulting police

But he was cleared of two counts of actual bodily harm on two members of the public.

Ranger, 21, was on a night out in Newcastle city centre with his cousin on August 27 last year. At about 2am he was approached by a group of white males and a confrontation ensued which resulted in Ranger punching two of them.

But Newcastle Crown Court heard that the footballer had been the victim of racial taunts and that his actions were in self-defence.

He fled the scene but, when police tried to detain him, he twice pushed them away, causing minor injuries.

He was given a 12-month conditional discharge and told to pay £750 to each officer.

The court heard that the charges of actual bodily harm were dropped because, on review of the CCTV footage, Ranger was shown to have been acting in self-defence. After enhancing the images, the footage showed that one of the men attempted to hit the player first.