FOOTBALL Ref red cards himself after fight
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from April 1998.
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Melvin Sylvester, a 42-year-old school caretaker, was refereeing a recreational match between the Southampton Arms and Hurstbourne Tarrant British Legion in the Andover and District Sunday League.
Sylvester said he lost his temper when one of the players, 27-year-old Richard Curd, pushed him.
"I was sorely provoked," he said. "I punched him several times after he had pushed me from behind. He then swore. I couldn't take anymore. I blew my top." Sylvester said he gave himself the red card and sent himself off. He was replaced by a spectator for the rest of the match.
The Hamspire Football Association imposed a six-week ban and a 20-pound (dlrs 33) fine on Sylvester, who has refereed more than 40 games in the past two years. "I'm furious," he said. "The disciplinary committee have got their priorities all wrong. They've convicted me of assault but the circumstances have not been shown. They've taken the side of the player."
Curd, who denied provoking the incident, was charged with insulting or abusive behavior. His case will be heard shortly by the local soccer authorities. sands of documents in an investigation that 18 months later spotted a problem.
The problem, prosecutors alleged in their opening last week, was an attempt by King to steal dlrs 350,000 from Lloyd's of London by faking a contract for a canceled 1991 bout between Julio Cesar Chavez and Harold Brazier.
Fleming said prosecutors misunderstood the complicated sequence of events that led to the insurance claim and left out key information to portray his client as a crook. "There are times in this country when our government has gone too far," he said.
Fleming told the jury that King, charged with nine counts of wire fraud, was not the only defendant in the case. Also charged is his company, Don King Productions Inc.
The tall, silver-haired lawyer told the jury he represents "Don King, the human being," then he patted him twice on the back. Fleming told how King rose "from nothing" to one of the most powerful positions in boxing.
"None of you can be against hard work and striving and that is Don King," Fleming told jurors.
Later, he warned that prosecutors would "attempt to get you to guess, to get you suspicious, to justify a decision to indict Mr. King in 1994 that should never have been made."
Fleming said representatives of Lloyds of London waited until a year ago to file a civil lawsuit to recover the money it lost. The suit was filed after prosecutors suggested it as a way to help the criminal case, he said.
Two years ago, a trial of King on the same charges ended with a hung jury. His company has since been added as a defendant.
William H. Murphy Jr., the lawyer for the company, told jurors no crime was committed in the case.
