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| Former Chelsea and England footballer Kerry Dixon jailed for pub assault | Former Chelsea and England footballer Kerry Dixon jailed for pub assault |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Former England and Chelsea footballer Kerry Dixon has been jailed for nine months for punching and kicking a man who is said to have called him "fatso". | Former England and Chelsea footballer Kerry Dixon has been jailed for nine months for punching and kicking a man who is said to have called him "fatso". |
| Dixon, 53, denied assaulting the man at a pub in Luton in May 2014, but was convicted of the offence last week. | Dixon, 53, denied assaulting the man at a pub in Luton in May 2014, but was convicted of the offence last week. |
| Luton Crown Court heard the assault was captured on CCTV cameras at the Nag's Head in Dunstable. | Luton Crown Court heard the assault was captured on CCTV cameras at the Nag's Head in Dunstable. |
| Judge Barbara Mensah described the attack as "shocking and sickening to watch". | Judge Barbara Mensah described the attack as "shocking and sickening to watch". |
| She said the violence was "disproportionate, unnecessary and completely over the top". | |
| The former striker, who scored 147 times for Chelsea, told the court he had been acting in self-defence and thought his victim, Ben Scoble, was going to hit him in the face with a glass. | |
| "He was posing a threat to me as far as I was concerned. I have been glassed in the face before," Mr Dixon told the jury. | |
| The court was shown CCTV footage of Dixon approaching Mr Scoble, 38, before punching him off a bar stool and continuing to hit him when he fell to the floor. | |
| The judge said the film had drawn "a gasp" from jurors when played during the first week of the trial. | |
| Dixon claimed the pair had a confrontation earlier in the evening during which Mr Scoble was disrespectful and then called him "fatso" in the moments before the attack. | |
| "It's absolutely clear to me, if he did say those words - because this was CCTV without words - he didn't move, seek to strike, or get off the chair," the judge said. | |
| "You were annoyed and clearly going to teach him a lesson." | |
| Live updates here. | Live updates here. |