Footballer found guilty of assaults

Newcastle United footballer Nile Ranger has been convicted of two counts of assault by beating against two police officers.

He was, however, cleared of two counts of actual bodily harm on two members of the public.

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

The 21-year-old 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.

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.

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 males attempted to hit the player first.

The judge said that, provided Ranger stayed out of trouble for the next 12 months, he would hear no more of it.