A footballer who deliberately kicked a fellow player in the face during a match has been jailed for 21 months.

Wayne Bertie, 29, was given a higher sentence for embarking on a long-term foreign trip following the attack more than four years ago.

Victim Christopher Sorrell, 35, still suffers facial numbness and discomfort as a result of the fractured cheekbone Bertie inflicted on him during an amateur football match in Southend.

Bertie, of Central Wall Road, Canvey, had denied grievous bodily harm but following evidence from witnesses, including referee Phillip Esdile, who described the kick as having the force "one would use to kick a football", was found guilty last month.

The jury heard how Bertie ran to join a case of pushing and shoving during the match between Old Southendians and Bertie's team, Gifford United on November 5, 1995, threw a punch at one player and then kicked Mr Sorrell who was on all fours on the field.

Sentencing at Southend Crown Court yesterday, Judge Frank Lockhart said: "The referee said he had never seen anything like it in all his years on the pitch.

"What you did had nothing to do with football or sport; it was not a question of a sporting challenge; it was a deliberate, dangerous attack on a man who was thrown on the ground.

"It may be that your life has changed for the better, but his has changed for the worst. Indications are he will never make a complete recovery.

People must realise that being on a football field does not exclude them from the rule of the law."

Bertie was sentenced to 18 months for the attack and a further three months for taking an around-the-world trip.

Mr Lockhart added: "It was a quite deliberate decision to avoid or delay receiving a penalty for this crime by absenting yourself from this country."

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