A JUDGE has called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding an onfield assault and careerthreatening injury suffered by a talented footballer.

Jonathan Carroll’s ankle was broken in a tackle during a pre-season tournament and was then stamped on by his self-proclaimed hard-man opponent.

Rival midfielder Mark Ward was yesterday jailed for four months by Judge Peter Fox after a jury last month found him guilty of common assault.

The 23-year-old denied stamping on Mr Carroll during a match between Whale Hill FC and Marton Under-18s at Eston, near Middlesbrough, on June 8, last year.

Witnesses said they saw Ward stamp on the teenager as he lay on the ground, but Whale Hill manager Shaun McDonald and referee Neil Hilton said they did not.

Judge Fox yesterday branded Mr McDonald a liar and said he could not accept Mr Hilton did not see the assault.

He described their evidence as “disturbing aspects of the case” and called for his remarks to be passed to the North Riding Football Association.

Judge Fox said consideration should be given to what further qualifications are handed out, adding: “The management of the Whale Hill club seems unacceptable.”

He told Ward, a fitter at ICI Wilton: “This should be a marker that this kind of behaviour on the pitch is intolerable.

This was not only a disgraceful piece of bad sportsmanship, it showed, albeit on the spur of the moment, a vicious streak.

“A short prison sentence must be passed, not only to stop you in your tracks, but also as a clear deterrent to others with regard to this kind of behaviour on the football pitch.”

Teesside Crown Court was told Ward had a poor disciplinary record and also had a conviction for hitting a man over the head with a metal truncheon.

Duncan McReddie, mitigating, said Ward, of St Mary’s Court, Middlesbrough, still denies stamping, but was sorry for the injury, which he said was an accident.

Mr Carroll, now 19, was on the verge of a four-year football scholarship in the US when he suffered the injury.

He is now on a three-year Teesside University degree course in food science.