Ex Saints Player Fined Over Assault

Former Premiership footballer Claus Lundekvam was fined £500 today after admitting assaulting a business partner in an drunken incident at his home.

The ex-Norwegian international, who made 450 appearances for Southampton in 12 years at the club, pleaded guilty to the charge of common assault when he appeared at Southampton Magistrates' Court. Carl Anderson, prosecuting, told the court that Lundekvam argued with Karen Rogers in the lounge of his home in Chilworth, near Southampton when she used his mobile phone, but he accused her of deleting numbers. He grabbed her by arms and pulled her off a sofa and then later grabbed her again, pushed her towards the door and she fell before someone else intervened, the court heard.

The ex-footballer was in a business arrangement with Ms Rogers over a photographic studio that was set up in 2009. She had come around to his house on April 17 this year to ask for money for the rent of the premises. In mitigation, Clifford Morris, said the business arrangement was now subject to civil court proceedings. He (Lundekvam) wants to put this behind him as quickly as possible,'' he told the court.Mr Morris said that the assault was ''unnecessary'' but the victim had received only minor bruising to her arm.

He said that Lundekvam had sought help for his problems since the incident. He added the former sportsmen was a man of no income but of wealth. District judge Lorraine Morgan fined Lundekvam and ordered him to pay another £100 in costs and a victim's surcharge. She also ordered him to complete a drink and impaired drivers course under a 12-month supervision order for a previous drink driving conviction.

Lundekvam did not complete that course after he was banned from driving when his Audi Quattro Q7 crashed into the back of a van on the M3 near Winchester, Hampshire, in May last year while two-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit. He was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work as part of a 12-month community sentence for the offence, which occurred after a charity golf event. Lundekvam , who retired from playing football three years ago, left court without comment.