DISGRACED ex-footballer Chris Zebroski has faced his last conviction for a spate of recent alcohol-fuelled offending, which saw him assault his former partner in front of their young children.

While on bail conditions in Malmesbury on March 29, Zebroski woke his ex and their two children in the early hours by rummaging around under the bed for his passport and car keys.

The children from the relationship, aged three and four, were in bed with their mother and were clearly frightened by Zebroski’s actions, the youngest screaming as he searched the room.

As his partner called the police, he pushed her against the wall forcefully before fleeing the house when officers arrived – returning shortly afterwards and hurling a breeze block onto the windscreen of the woman’s BMW.

Zebroski, 29, appeared via video link from HMP Bullingdon after being sentenced to four years and four months for assault and robbery over separate incidents last Friday.

Keith Ballinger, prosecuting at Swindon Magistrates' Court yesterday, said: “She had an on-off relationship with the defendant since June 2009 and they have two children together, aged three and four, as a result of that relationship.

“He moved in with her in December of last year, but because of some issues she ended the relationship in February.

“On the morning of these offences she was woken around 5am by him rummaging around under the bed. He was cross, wanting his car keys and passport, throwing things around the room, scaring the two children who were in bed with her.

“She called the police and he pushed her to the chest against the bedroom wall. The youngest child was screaming and he was still looking for the keys, taking her handbag outside and tipping things out on the ground. Police arrived and he ran off.

“An hour-and-a-half later, when police have left, he returns. She saw one of the children sneaking behind him, hiding the car keys behind her back.

“She told him he could not come in and she was going to call the police again. She said she would give him money for a taxi, but he refused to leave.

“He storms off around the side of the house and she sees him through the back gate standing by the vehicle holding a breeze block. The gates blow shut and she hears a thud, and a neighbour sees him throwing the block on to the car."

“She considers the relationship is over but doesn’t want to jeopardise the relationship with the two children.”

Gordon Hotson, defending Zebroski, said costs should not be awarded because the couple are still on good terms and the ex-pro no longer has a job. “Mr Zebroski is a young man of 29 and has been a professional footballer for some years,” he said. “As a result of his recent sentence, his contract with the current club has been terminated, so he does not have a job to go back to.

“By then (after his sentence) he will be in his 30s and his playing career could then be at an end. "He has had a long struggle with alcohol and these offences stem from that battle," he said. “He knows that he needs to resolve those issues once and for all. The recent spate of offending is this young man reaching rock bottom.”

Zebroski was given three months to run concurrently with his existing sentence and made to pay an £80 victim surcharge, with no separate costs or compensation awarded.