Image copyright Simon Cooper/PA Wire Image caption Marlon King has spent time in jail for other offences including sexual assault

An ex-Premier League footballer who caused a pile-up while eating ice cream at the wheel has been jailed for 18 months for dangerous driving.

Former Watford and Wigan striker Marlon King was driving a Porsche on the A46 near Newark in Nottinghamshire when the crash happened in April last year.

The three-car smash left a man needing three weeks of hospital treatment.

King, 34, a Birmingham City player at the time, was also jailed in 2009 for sexual assault.

'Aggressive and arrogant'

The footballer, of Torksey, Lincolnshire, served 18 months for groping a woman and then breaking her nose in a London club.

In the latest case, King initially denied the charge but admitted dangerous driving shortly before a trial was due to start at Nottingham Crown Court in March.

Sentencing King at the court, Recorder Paul Mann QC said: "I do not regard your case as merely impulsive or silly behaviour. It was aggressive. It was arrogant."

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Marlon King's last club was the League One outfit Sheffield United

King was seen weaving in and out of traffic on the dual carriageway before he undertook Martin Beck's VW Polo, which he considered was driving too slowly, the court heard.

The former footballer, who was eating an ice cream bought from McDonald's moments earlier, then slammed his brakes on in frustration, forcing Mr Beck to perform an emergency stop.

A third car crashed into the back of the Polo, pushing it into the back of King's Porsche.

The footballer drove off, only for a witness to flag him down, thinking Mr Beck had been killed.

'Genuinely remorseful'

When he returned he blamed Mr Beck, who had to be cut free and flown to hospital, for causing the collision.

Mr Beck spent three weeks in hospital and required surgery for a fractured and dislocated forearm. A third driver was also taken to hospital for cuts and bruises.

Charles Langley, defending, said King admitted he had been "frustrated" with Mr Beck's driving.

"It was dangerous. He should never have done it and he accepts that and he is genuinely remorseful," Mr Langley added.

King was released by League One side Sheffield United in December. He has now retired and had planned to move to Zambia with his wife and family, the court heard.

The Jamaican international has a number of other convictions, including dishonesty, drinking and driving and other motoring offences, including a prison term for handling a stolen car, while playing for Gillingham in 2002.

King, whose previous clubs include Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest, Coventry City, Hull City, Leeds United and Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving at an earlier hearing at Nottingham Crown Court.

The judge also handed King a three-year driving ban.