Nicholas Williams of Welsh National League Division One side Cefn Albion has been sentenced to a year in prison for grievous bodily harm after deliberately breaking an opponent's leg in a "revenge attack."
According to Aaron West of FoxSports.com, Williams received the punishment following an incident last October in which he broke the leg of AFC Brynford player Andrew Barlow, which left his toes "touching his knee."
The match had to be abandoned following the foul. Williams, 26, made the tackle 30 minutes into the game. He was allegedly angry with Barlow after the pair came together in a challenge and had made his feelings known to referee Mark Stokes prior to the "brutal tackle."
He described the leg-break as a "freak accident," adding: "I just gave it the extra bit more and his leg snapped."
Barlow said of the incident:
He was getting angry. He was shouting at me... I saw Williams coming towards me from behind on my right... I tried to jump out of the way. I couldn’t get high enough out of the challenge. He’s caught me with his studs in the middle of my shin. All I remember was looking up and seeing my leg flopping and going into the ground.
Stokes believed Williams went into the challenge with the sole intention of hurting Barlow, who is still yet to return to work and required rods be put in his leg after breaking both his tibia and fibula, per the BBC.
The jury at Caernarfon Crown Court unanimously agreed and Williams subsequently received his 12-month jail sentence from the judge.