FORMER Swindon Town footballer Nile Ranger was ordered to pay more than £3,000 after kicking in the door to his own apartment block.

The striker was set to go on trial at Swindon Magistrates Court yesterday,for the incident which took place in April, but he changed his plea to guilty minutes before he was due to appear.

The 23-year-old said he was returning to Plaza 21 in the town centre after a night out when he tried to gain access via the carpark entrance.

He said the door was jammed, as it had been in the past, and so he kicked it in an attempt to force the door open.

On the third attempt it opened but only after breaking the door.

The judge ordered him to pay £2,345 in compensation for damaging the door.

As well as paying compensation, Ranger was also ordered to pay costs of £250, fined £500 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £50.

Sentencing the striker, who is now rumoured to be having trials at Leeds United, District Judge Simon Cooper said: “On returning home you attempted to gain access and gave the door a good thumping.

“You are a large man and did some damage. You were reckless. You accept that and I accept that. I can see you did not intend to deliberately cause damage.

“It was more from a bad temper and frustration but not with any intention to damage the door.

“This could have gone to full trial but I give you credit for your guilty plea.”

CCTV footage emerged earlier this year showing the former Newcastle United player returning home with a woman in the early hours of the morning before he kicked the door three times to gain entrance.

Before the sentence was given Tom Roberts, defending, read a statement on behalf of the footballer.

“I plead guilty to the charge of criminal damage,” he read.

“I accept I kicked the door three times to gain access. The door was unreliable and I had had difficulty opening it before.”

In May, Ranger also pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to a taxi in Liverpool after a cabbie refused to wait for him.

The player spent one year at Swindon Town but parted company by mutual consent after the club tired of his off-the-field antics.

Ranger did not comment after yesterday’s sentencing.