Liverpool defender gets 12-month community order for assault

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) - Liverpool defender Jon Flanagan must do 40 hours of unpaid work and attend 15 rehabilitation activity days as part of a 12-month community order for assaulting his girlfriend.

The 25-year-old Flanagan pleaded guilty to assault after being caught on camera grabbing his girlfriend by the neck and throat, throwing her against a wall, and kicking her while she was on the ground during a night out in Liverpool last month.

He was sentenced at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, with his club expressing its "disappointment and anger" that Flanagan had "failed to live up to the values of Liverpool Football Club."

"It leaves his own reputation damaged," the Premier League team said, "and, through association, he has severely let down the club he had previously represented with distinction."

Flanagan came through Liverpool's academy system and made his senior debut in 2011. He has played more than 50 times for the club but only once this season, in the League Cup.

Flanagan's lawyer, Lionel Greig, said the player "deeply regrets his behavior and there is genuine remorse," adding that the couple are still together and working at their relationship.

"You are, of course, a young man of previous good character," judge Wendy Lloyd said, "and therefore it's undoubtedly sad that you have brought yourself here by your behavior."