A Non-League football manager who attacked a two-year-old has been found guilty of child cruelty and sacked by his football club. Kiernan Hughes-Mason, 32, left the girl with life-changing brain injuries following the incicident in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, in January 2020.
At his trial, Hughes-Mason was convicted of grievous bodily harm and child cruelty, and will now be sentenced on 10 September at Basildon Crown Court.
And his non-league football club, Enfield Borough FC, have since released a statement.
“Effective immediately, Enfield Borough FC have decided to relieve Kiernan Hughes-Mason from his duties as manager,” said chairman Marvin Walker. “The decision comes in light of recent revelations regarding serious legal matters from Mr.Mason Hughes’ past, which were not disclosed during the hiring process.
“Enfield Borough FC is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and accountability, and we believe that this action is necessary to uphold these values. We appreciate the understanding and continued support of our fans and community in this time.”
Walker also added that “no further statement will be made” on the matter. Hughes-Mason had only been appointed this summer after leaving his role at Tower Hamlets.
Hughes-Mason started his playing career at Millwall and also spent time at Cheltenham Town on loan. But after leaving the club in 2011, the forward spent the next 13 years at semi-professional level.
His most notable stint came at Leatherhead, where he made 112 league appearances between 2014-16. He also played for Welling United and Hashtag United before joining Enfield.
The court heard that Hughes-Mason has called paramedics while looking after his ex-partner’s daughter on January 31, 2020. He claimed he had been downstairs when he heard a npise from her bedroom and thought she had fallen on a doll house, leaving her conscious but unresponsive.
Paramedics took the girl to hospital where she was placed into an induced coma, before being transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital. Doctors were then said to have found multiple injuries to her legs, back, face and chest which are thought to have been inflicted over a three month period between October 2019 and January 2020.
The girl was then said to have remained in a coma for 14 days and suffered life-changing brain injuries which now means she needs 24-hour care. Following the conviction, the victim’s family released a statement that read: “We finally have a verdict and that man is now held accountable for what he did to our little girl.
“We have had to go through what no family should ever have to experience, and our girl is going to bear the consequences of what he has done to her for the rest of her life”.
