SOCCER hard-man Vinnie Jones was spared a jail term last week when St Albans magistrates sentenced him to community service and fines for assaulting his neighbour.

Jones, 33, who plays and coaches for Queens Park Rangers, was found guilty of actual bodily harm and criminal damage by magistrates on June 2, following a two-day trial.

The charges related to an incident between Jones and his neighbour, Timothy Gear, in Redbourn last November, following a row about a stile which Jones had installed on a shared footpath.

The court heard that Jones, who lived in Library Lane at the time, had broken the window of Mr Gear's mobile home, bitten him on the head, punched him to the ground and kicked him repeatedly in a 20-minute assault.

Jones denied the charges, saying the incident had been nothing more than "pushing and shoving".

He was given 100 hours community service and ordered to pay Mr Gear £400 compensation for the assault. For the criminal damage he was fined £300 and ordered to pay £65 compensation.

Jones, who has since moved from Redbourn to Hemel Hempstead, was also ordered to pay £400 costs.

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