Footballer who appeared on Wayne Rooney's TV show jailed again

2022-10-24

Promising footballer who appeared on Wayne Rooney’s Sky TV show before being jailed for pub attack is sentenced to another four months after being caught with an illegally-modified phone behind bars

Ryan Wilson is serving a four and half year jail term in Glenochil Prison, Scotland
The ex-footballer starred in Wayne Rooney’s show, Zero Street Striker in 2010
He was jailed last year for attacking a man outside a pub in Rutherglen in 2019
The victim was left with permanent brain damage able to say one or two words

A promising footballer, who appeared on Wayne Rooney’s Sky TV show before being jailed for a pub attack, will spend a further four months behind bars after he was caught with an illegally modified phone in jail.

Ryan Wilson, 33, is serving four and half years in jail after he attacked a 51-year-old man in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire in Scotland in a row about a taxi.

The athlete, who featured on Sky’s Wayne Rooney Coke Zero Street Striker in 2010, is now serving his sentence at top security Glenochil Prison, where he was caught with the illegal device.

The brutal attack he inflicted left his victim with potentially fatal and life-changing brain damage, only able to say one or two words.

Promising ex-footballer Ryan Wilson (right) starred in Wayne Rooney’s (left) Coke Zero Street Striker in 2010. Wilson was jailed last year after he attacked a 51-year-old man outside a pub, leaving him with permanent brain damage, only able to speak one or two words

Prosecutor Rachel Wallace said officers at Glenochil Prison had checked Wilson’s prison-issue mobile phone during a cell search when ‘they noticed it contained an unauthorised SIM card.’

During the Covid pandemic, prisoners in Scottish jails were given mobile phones and locked SIM cards.

Outgoing calls on the jail-issued phones can be monitored and are meant to only be used for possible numbers already on the individual prisoner’s call list.

Text and internet are disbaled and prisoners cannot receive incoming calls. The phones are also rationed to 300 minutes a month.

Removing the official SIM card and replacing it with a normal one would avoid some of these restrictions.

Appearing at Alloa Sheriff Court by video link from the jail, Glaswegian Wilson pleaded guilty to possessing an illegal personal communication device while in prison – contrary to the 1989 Prisons (Scotland) Act.

Wilson is currently in HMP Glenochil in Scotland. He will spend a further four months behind bars after he was caught with an illegally modified phone in jail

Solicitor Paul Gallagher, defending, begged the court not to add to his jail time.

He said Wilson was already scheduled to remain in prison until July 7th 2024.

The lawyer added: ‘He has a 15-year-old son. He borrowed the SIM card off a friend because he had run out of minutes on his prison SIM card. He was using it to contact his family.’

Sheriff Neil Bowie sentenced Wilson to a further four months’ imprisonment, which he ordered should be served consecutively to his main sentence.

He said: ‘The rules are in place for good reason.’

During the Covid pandemic, prisoners in Scottish jails were given mobile phones and locked SIM cards

The once promising footballer was previously on the books of Falkirk and Motherwell and played for Scotland in the Homeless World Cup in 2010.

During his time on Rooney’s show, the English association football manager praised him for his ‘technique and touch’.

Wilson’s victim, Kevin Hammond, was left with a bleed to the brain and a fractured skull after being assaulted by Wilson over what began as a minor row over a cab outside The Braes pub, Rutherglen, in December 2019.

Mr Hammond was unfit to testify at the High Court in Glasgow, but Wilson pleaded guilty to assaulting him to his severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of his life.

Prosecutor Shanti Maguire said Wilson had pushed Mr Hammond and punched him once on the head causing him to stagger and fall.

Mr Hammond was rushed to hospital and could have died had his injuries not been treated.

His brain injury was categorised as very severe, resulting in badly reduced mobility, weakness to the right side of his body, and impairment across a range of functions such as language and memory.

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