A former Liverpool player has been convicted of a racially-aggravated attack.
John Durnin called Rajkumar Bhalla a ‘p*** b******’ before grabbing him by the neck and punching him in the face in a McDonald’s drive-thru in Warrington.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how ex-Reds striker Durnin had also thrown a cup of coffee at a cyclist just six days before the incident on August 9 last year.
Durnin, who played for the Anfield club between 1986 and 1989, had visited the fast food outlet in Gemini Retail Park before the attack on Mr Bhalla occurred.
Prosecutor Mike Stephenson told the court that the incident arose after Mr Bhalla had driven past Durnin’s Audi sports car too close for his liking at around 9am.
Durnin proceeded to drive after the 74-year-old and pulled in front of his car to stop it before banging on the driver’s window and punching him in the face.
Mr Bhalla sustained a small cut to his lip during the assault and revealed that he suffered from a sore jaw for some time after the attack.
Durnin was previously found guilty of throwing a drink at a cyclist and falsely claiming to be a police officer, for which he was convicted in March this year.
Michael Scholes, defending, said that both incidents had taken place shortly after the 53-year-old learned that his wife of over 30 years had been unfaithful.
The former footballer was handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
After leaving Liverpool, Durnin enjoyed spells with several Football League clubs including Portsmouth and Port Vale as well as a coaching stint at Bolton Wanderers.
Despite a limited playing career at Anfield, he was also a regular fixture in the Masters team which saw former players taking part in six-a-side tournaments.