Former Newcastle footballer jailed for punching 60-year-old woman in kebab shop queue

Former Newcastle United footballer Marcus Maddison has been arrested and sent to jail for punching a 60-year-old woman in a kebab shop queue. She suffered complex facial fractures after being on the receiving end of a heavy blow.

As per a report in The Sun, the incident took place in September 2022 when the footballer was out in Durham. The 29-year-old first verbally abused the victim's daughter before punching the 60-year-old.

Recorder Paul Reid has now sentenced the footballer to 20 months in prison, saying (via The Sun):

"You struck the woman; you hit her with extreme force with your right fist, and on your right hand, you were wearing a large metal ring, and that ring amounts to a weapon. This is an incident of egregious violence in a public place."

Speaking about the assault, the victim added:

"My jaw was broken in multiple places. I can't eat on the left-hand side of my mouth. I have problems with my teeth. I can no longer smell properly and have been on various different medications by my general practitioner to treat various ongoing issues. I've been a regular visitor to my GP since the assault. I have nerve damage to my face on the left-hand side, and my taste buds are damaged."

The former Newcastle United footballer admitted the charges and claimed that he had quit drinking following the incident last year.

Former Newcastle United player's current club terminate his contract

Marcus Maddison was under contract at Darlington FC when the incident took place in Durham. It was just around three months after he penned his contract with the National League North side when he assaulted the 60-year-old.

The club terminated his deal within three weeks of the incident and announced on October 13, 2022:

"The club were made aware of an alleged incident and conducted an immediate disciplinary investigation. After discussions with the player concerned the club agreed to mutually terminate his contract with immediate effect at that time. Darlington FC is a fan-owned club and has a zero tolerance towards discrimination, violence of abusive behaviour."

Marcus Maddison spent his youth career at Newcastle United before moving to St. Johnstone. His best spell remains at Peterborough United, where he played over 200 games.