Chelsea defender http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ashley-Cole-c6809 escapes further punishment for shooting incident
Chelsea defender Ashley Cole will not be facing criminal charges for accidentally shooting student http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tom-c35214 Cowan at the club’s Cobham training centre a few weeks ago.
Cole had inadvertently shot and injured Cowan, who was present at http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786’s training centre as part of a work placement program. The defender had brought a high powered air rifle to the centre, unaware that the weapon was loaded. Cole jokingly took aim at
Cowan and accidentally fired the rifle. The 21-year-old Cowan was left wounded, though the extent of the damage remains unknown.
The incident has further tarnished the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 international’s rapidly deteriorating image. Public opinion of Cole has already been quite negative, and the latest unfortunate episode has hardly helped matters. The defender had come under fire earlier in
the season for allegedly sneaking women into the team hotel while Chelsea were on their pre-season tour.
Cole has been reprimanded by Chelsea officials for the latest incident; however, the extent of the punishment remains unknown.
Worryingly for the England international, Surrey police had reportedly taken the matter into consideration. Cole could possibly have faced criminal charges if he was found to have willfully shot and injured 21-year-old Tom Cowan. However, it seems that the
Blues defender has been let off the hook.
Police visited the Cobham training centre last week to investigate the incident, and have decided not to press charges against Cole.
Now that the matter has finally been put to rest, manager Carlo Ancelotti can focus fully on Chelsea’s on-field issues. The Blues are steadily overcoming their mid-season slump in form, clawing their way back into contention for the Premier League title
in recent weeks.
Chelsea are currently in fourth place in the League standings, nine points behind leaders Manchester United. However, the Blues still have a game in hand. With their Premier League encounter against the Red Devils at Old Trafford looming on the horizon,
the possibility of the South London side retaining their Barclays Premier League crown does not seem as far-fetched as it did two months ago.
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