Ex-footballer Kerry Dixon 'feared being glassed', court hears

Kerry Dixon says he believed a fellow pub drinker was going to glass him in the face

An ex-England footballer accused of punching and kicking a pub drinker said he feared the man was going to glass him in the face, a court has heard.

Kerry Dixon is said to have knocked the man, who allegedly called him "fatso", off a bar stool before assaulting him.

Mr Dixon, 53, denies causing actual bodily harm at a pub in Dunstable last May, saying he acted in self defence.

Luton Crown Court heard the former Chelsea player earned £400 a week at the height of his career.

Mr Dixon's barrister Mark Wyeth QC asked his client how much he was earning "in the week in 1984 when you scored that famous goal at Highbury?"

The goal - in a 1-1 draw against Arsenal on the first day of the 1984-85 season after Chelsea had been promoted back into the top division - is regarded as one of Mr Dixon's best, and clips of it are often shown on TV and the internet.

Kerry Dixon's clubs included Chelsea and Southampton

Mr Dixon said football had not made him a rich man, but "could have done if I had used my money more wisely".

The court was shown CCTV footage of the attack at The Nags Head in Dunstable taken at 00:40 BST on 15 May 2014.

In the footage, Mr Dixon is seen punching 38-year-old father-of-two Ben Scoble in the face, sending him to the ground.

Mr Dixon told the court he was aware of Mr Scoble having an empty glass in his hand as they had a confrontation, after Mr Scoble had allegedly been "disrespectful".

"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 court.

Asked by his barrister if he had kicked Mr Scoble in the face, he replied "Never," saying "I would never do that."

The trial continues.

The attack happened at The Nags Head in Dunstable, Bedfordshire