THE shocking picture on the fron of today's Oxford Mail shows the brutal evidence of damage caused by soccer violence - from a player.

Footballer Darren Smith was left with these horrific injuries after being kicked in the face by angry opponent Eamon McHugh.

McHugh, 25, left Darren with a broken eye socket, jaw and cheekbone, and his nose squashed virtually flat.

The match referee told a court Darren's head was kicked as if it was a rugby ball. Now McHugh faces prison and a seven-year ban from soccer after an Oxford Crown Court jury found him guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent. He had denied the charge.

At the time of the attack in September, McHugh was out of prison on licence. He had been released part-way through a three-year sentence for killing a taxi driver in a road accident while under the influence of alcohol.

McHugh could now be ordered to complete that jail term - plus any sentence imposed for the latest incident.

The court heard that the Barton FC striker, from Iffley Road, Oxford, also had previous convictions for violence, including two where he kicked his victims.

Darren, 25, was playing for Great Milton FC, who were beating Barton 2-1 when the attack happened.

Referee David Shepherd told the court: "It was a full-blooded kick - the same sort of kick as if you were playing rugby and wanted to score a drop goal."

Darren, a refrigeration engineer from Chalgrove, had his jaw wired, plates put in his face and was on a liquid diet at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital. He still suffers blurred vision and his teeth and nose are crooked.

He told the jury: "I remember going up for a header with one of the Barton players. "I don't really remember a lot else. Next thing I knew I was lying on the floor and one of my players was holding my head. All I could see was a lot of blood. I remember my nose being flat to my face."

McHugh claimed in defence: "I was going up for a header. As I jumped I was butted on the side of the head. I didn't like the challenge - I thought it was a foul. I lost my temper because of it and turned around and kicked the player."

His case will now be considered by the Oxfordshire Football Association, which could ban him for a maximum seven years.

OFA disciplinary secretary David Hovard told the Oxford Mail: "We will not tolerate this sort of behaviour. Although this sort of incident is rare, we view it very seriously."

But he added: "I don't think a criminal record should necessarily stop a player from playing. It is only when something happens on the field that we can act."

In 1995, McHugh was jailed and banned from driving for five years after causing the death of taxi driver Graham Tuffrey by dangerous driving while more than twice the drink-drive limit.

Mr Tuffrey's common-law wife Kathleen Hutchinson, 45, of Kidlington Road, Islip, said last night: "He has not learned anything by what happened in 1995. He is just a nasty little person. He got away very lightly for what he did."

McHugh was remanded in custody for reports before sentencing at a later date.

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