Kiernan Hughes-Mason: ex-footballer handed 14-year prison sentence for attacking a two-year old child

Disgraced former footballer Kiernan Hughes-Mason has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after he was convicted of assaulting a two year old child.

The attacks perpetrated by Hughes-Mason were akin to a ‘high-speed road traffic accident’ or ‘a fall from a substantial height of several storeys’. The child suffered face, chest, back and leg injuries and requires 24 hour care after also receiving brain damage.

Furthermore, the child can no longer sit up or stand under her own power and is thought to be in a state of constant pain as a result of the injuries that Hughes-Mason inflicted upon her. Hughes-Mason has now been sentenced for his crimes including grievous bodily harm with intent and child cruelty.

During his trial, the prosecution barrister said: “The experts are all unanimously of the view that the child’s devastating head and brain injuries could not have been caused accidentally while she was alone in her room. Hughes-Mason was keen from the outset to portray himself to the police as the doting stepfather who treated the children as his own, saying how much he loved them.”

A spokesperson for one of Hughes-Mason’s old clubs, Hashtag United, told Mail Online: “We can categorically say that the club had no knowledge whatsoever of these events until today. We are told that the crimes he has now been found guilty of occurred before he joined us.

“Some serious flaws have been exposed in procedures as we'd received confirmation from the relevant authorities that he was clear to coach as part of standard background checks.”

Over the course of his playing career, Hughes-Mason played for clubs such as Millwall, Leatherhead and Grimsby Town. He spent time in the academies of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, though he would eventually graduate from Millwall’s academy in 2009. He also spent a time as manager of both Tower Hamlets and Enfield Borough following this.