Ex Leicester City winger Ben Marshall hit “rock bottom” before a booze-fuelled raidDylan Hayward Reporter, Rob Andrews, Dominic Robertson and Nathan Pynn
16:09, 11 May 2026
Ben Marshall of Leicester City (Photo by AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)(Image: Photo by AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)
A former Leicester City star went “completely ballistic” and smashed up an antique shop during a drunken rage after losing his fortune.
Ben Marshall, 35, caused more than £7,000 of damage to Junk & Disorderly in Newport, Shropshire, after a booze-fuelled night out.
The former winger, who cost the Foxes up to £1 million, admitted burglary and damaging property at Telford Magistrates’ Court.
Marshall, a former England Under-21 international who played for the Foxes between 2012 and 2013, had lost his fortune through a series of bad financial decisions and turned to alcohol after hitting rock bottom.
The incident took place in February this year after Marshall, of Stafford, spent the evening drinking at a local pub, reports The Stoke Sentinel.
He was sentenced to a 12-month community order, including 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days, six months of alcohol treatment and 120 hours of unpaid work.
Marshall was also ordered to pay £1,500 in compensation.
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Marshall joined Leicester City on January 31, 2012, in a permanent transfer worth an initial £750,000 from Stoke City, with the fee potentially rising to £1 million.
He departed for Blackburn Rovers in 2013 before a £1.2 million move to Wolves in 2016, but now plays for Eccleshall in the 10th tier of English football.
Lucy Allen, prosecuting, described how Marshall left a pub and walked towards the shop before kicking a glass panel on the front door until it smashed and crawling through the broken door.
She said: “He then proceeded to deliberately damage various items, as well as ripping the CCTV off the wall.”
Items damaged included the door, CCTV cameras, an antique cash register and several items on the shelves, with total damage valued at £7,450 including two days of lost earnings for the shop.
Sentencing, chairman of the bench Steven Jonas said: “This was a particularly heinous attack on a premises where you went completely ballistic and caused huge amounts of damage.
“I accept you are remorseful about it and accept it was caused in drink — although that is an aggravating factor, not a mitigating one.”
John Skinner, defending, said: “I think it is fair to say that in February of this year Mr Marshall was going through a difficult time. He is a man who came from a position of some wealth but through bad advice effectively lost everything financially.”
Mr Skinner added that Marshall had initially thought he heard screams coming from the property but had little explanation for his actions afterwards.