Player sentenced for assault

Paul Riley, who represented Nottinghamshire Cricket Board in the 2003 C&G Trophy, has been found guilty of assaulting Kial Stewart, an Australian Paralympic cyclists gold medalist. He has given a suspended sentence of 15 months' jail by the South Australia District Court, on the condition he enter a AUS$500 (£200) two-year good behaviour bond.

Riley, 22, has been staying at a cricket camp at the headquarters of Australian Institute of Sport in Adelaide at the time of the incident in March last year.

Judge Peter Allan acquitted Riley of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, saying the prosecution had failed to prove he intended to injure Stewart, but found him guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Stewart had been with a group of cyclists who were walking back to the Institute of Sport's Del Monte facility after having drinks at Adelaide's Ramsgate Hotel when the assault occurred. "They're all a bunch of good guys," Riley told the court, "and I really didn't think there would be a fight." He said that Stewart had first punched his friend Nathan Crack, 31, before starting on him. "I defended myself. He punched me and I punched him back."