Football star boasted of his wealth to strangers

A PREMIER League footballer boasted to strangers of his £7,000-a-week salary before his friend allegedly attacked a man who said he didn’t recognise him.

James Maddison, a midfielder who now plays for Leicester City, and his friend Nathan Cadby, 21, were returning from Mantra nightclub in Norwich in October 2016 when a scuffle broke out.

Ipswich Crown Court heard how the footballer asked James Brown, a local man, if he knew who he was before mocking him and his group of friends, saying he earned more in a month than they did in a year. Mr Cadby then slapped and punched Mr Brown, jurors heard.

Judge Emma Peters, summing up, said Maddison claimed his shoes were more expensive than the group’s outfits. In 2016, Maddison was a player at Norwich City and was on loan to Aberdeen at the time of the incident on Oct 9. Mr Cadby was found not guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Brown.

The defendant said he lashed out because he believed Mr Brown was about to hit him. The blow fractured Mr Brown’s cheekbone.

Mr Cadby said he was acting in selfdefence and jurors at Ipswich Crown Court took less than two hours to find him not guilty yesterday.

Judge Peters told the court Mr Brown was waiting for a taxi with friends at a bus stop when the footballer approached them in the early hours. “He said ‘Do you know who I am?’ It was quite friendly, not at all aggressive,” she said.

Mr Brown had said another person approached as he sat at the bus stop and said “You should know who he is”, before delivering a “slap” to his face and punching him when he stood up. Mr Cadby, a carpenter from Coventry, said he had gone over to hurry Maddison up so they could get back to his flat and denied slapping Mr Brown. He said he punched Mr Brown when he stood up as he “thought he was going to punch me or headbutt me or something”.