Five months for fugitive footballer

Ex-Celtic and Hibs player jailed after contacting ex-girlfriend

- DAVID MEIKLE

FUGITIVE footballer Anthony Stokes has been jailed for five months after breaching strict court orders against contacting his ex-girlfriend and her family.

The ex-Celtic and Hibs striker, 35, repeatedly messaged Eilidh Scott and her parents in defiance of a ban.

Stokes appeared from custody in handcuffs at Hamilton Sheriff Court after causing repeated delays to the case.

Sheriff Colin Dunipace ordered Stokes, of Dublin, to be locked up and blasted him for his conduct.

He was also banned from contacting Eilidh for five years and her parents for a year. Stokes flew from Dublin to Scotland last month and handed himself in at Motherwell police station.

He claimed he had failed to return to Scotland to face sentencing after becoming "distracted" by court proceedings against him in the Republic of Ireland.

He had been held in HMP Addiewell where he was kept in his cell for 23 hours a day amid fears for his safety.