Former Chelsea striker Dixon jailed for pub assault

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Chelsea and England striker Kerry Dixon has been sent to prison for nine months after assaulting a man in a pub in his hometown of Luton in May 2014, the BBC reported on Friday.

The 53-year-old, who won eight caps for his country and is Chelsea's third highest goalscorer of all time, was convicted of the offence last week.

Luton Crown Court judge Barbara Mensah described Dixon's attack as "shocking and sickening to watch".

The former footballer, who made one brief substitute appearance at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, denied the assault and told the court he had acted in self-defence.

Dixon scored four times for England and netted 193 goals for Chelsea during nine years at Stamford Bridge between 1983-92.

The striker also had spells at Southampton, Luton, Reading, Millwall, Watford and Doncaster Rovers.

(Writing by Tony Jimenez, editing by Pritha Sarkar)