The Irish footballer Des Byrne was found guilty yesterday of possessing a bottle as an offensive weapon after a fracas at a London nightclub. Byrne, who is from Dublin, had gone on trial with two Chelsea players.
England Under-21 defender John Terry left the dock in tears after he was cleared of striking a bouncer in the face with a glass.
Terry was cleared on charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, unlawful wounding, possessing a bottle as an offensive weapon and affray.
His Chelsea team-mate, Jody Morris, was also cleared of affray at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court.
Byrne, a former St Patrick's Athletic player and currently a Wimbledon defender, was found guilty by a majority verdict of 10-2 of possessing a bottle as an offensive weapon, but was cleared of affray.
Byrne was fined £2,000 and will face 45 days in prison if he defaults on the fine. He was ordered to pay costs of £1,000.
According to the prosecution, the instigators of the incident were Byrne and Terry, who rushed a bouncer, Mr Trevor Thirlwall. It was alleged that Morris then joined in.
But the footballers said that Mr Thirlwall sparked the fight by attacking Byrne and was then assisted by his brother, professional boxer Matthew Thirlwall, and to a lesser extent by another bouncer, Mr Shaun Brice.
The night on which the incident at the club occurred began innocuously. The three footballers, who all lived in Epsom, Surrey, met at a local Yates's, where they drank a few pints of lager.
After being pestered by football fans, Morris had suggested that the three should go to The Wellington, an exclusive club in Knightsbridge which was run by Jake Panayiotou, whose son had played with Morris as a schoolboy at Chelsea.
When they arrived at the club their celebrity status was enough to get them in, although they were not members. They immediately went down to the basement bar and began drinking.
Staff claimed that Morris had staggered back drunk against a wall and spat out his drink. One staff witness claimed that the players were downing B52 cocktails - a mixture of Kahlua, Bailey's and Cointreau - and slamming them down on the bar.
The bouncer, Trevor Thirlwall, was later asked to get the three to leave. The footballers discussed the matter in the reception area with Mr Thirlwall and another bouncer, Shaun Brice, for about 11 minutes.
Morris admitted repeatedly and "insistently" asking the bouncers to call the owner of the club, Mr Panayiotou, and later said that it would have been better if the players had simply left.
As Morris talked, John Terry could be seen on CCTV asking for the autograph of actor Danny Dyer, who starred in the film Mean Machine with former Wimbledon footballer Vinnie Jones, before throwing it on the floor after Mr Dyer had left.
Byrne said he thought the autograph incident was funny "because he should have been asking for John's autograph".
Byrne could then be seen, according to the prosecution, "taking the mickey" out of an Italian designer.
The three players were then ushered out of the club by the bouncers. Moments later, fighting broke out. The melee spilled in and out of the club and some of it was captured by a CCTV camera located just above the club door.