Ex-Premier League prodigy Causso Darame has been jailed for stabbing a teen with a Rambo knife.
The 25-year-old was once on Swansea's books, joining the Welsh outfit when they were in the Premier League, but has since fallen into a life of crime following the termination of his contract.
Darame left 19-year-old Ronnie Evans paralysed with "life-changing injuries" after attacking him in a "vicious" robbery. He stole the teen's neck chain and bracelet and will face four years and four months in jail after he admitted robbery and possession of a knife.
The incident occurred in the early hours of May 12 last year near Ken's Fried Chicken restaurant. Evans was with a friend when he clocked Darame, who had a large Rambo-style hunting knife, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.
The court was told that the pair began to run when they clocked the ex-footballer was behind them. Darame yelled after them: "I’m going to catch you, and when I catch you, I’m going to kill you." Ronnie suffered a huge amount of blood loss after two of his major nerves were severed.
Ronnie said in a victim statement that he has been left with paralysis from the knee down - meaning he cannot walk without a splint on his foot. It means he can no longer continue his work as an apprentice electrician and can't play tennis to the high level he once did.
Prosecutor Paul Fairley said: "Luckily as far as everyone in the case was concerned, the knife missed by a few millimetres the major blood vessels in his leg."
The court was told how Darame was given a youth contract with Swansea at the age of 15. He once compared himself to Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo and was then handed a two-year professional deal when he turned 18 but was released in 2018 by the Swans.
His lawyer Daniel Reilly admitted he felt like a failure when his contract was terminated and began socialising with drug dealers as he "struggled to cope".
Judge Daniel Neill said Darame's actions had changed the life of a man "in the prime of his youth". He added: "You had hoped to become a professional footballer, it didn’t work out. Many dreams don’t work out, many ambitions. By the time that your professional football contract sponsorship came to an end, you had a partner and a newborn child you felt you were failing."
Darame was sentenced to 28 months in prison after police found him with £1,000 worth of heroin and cocaine in August last year. At the time, the court heard he turned to drug-dealing to make money because he refused to accept unemployment benefits.