Footballer wins bid to pay less child maintenance

A footballer has won a High Court fight over the amount of child maintenance he should pay for his two children.

The player had complained about the sums a local family court judge had ordered him to hand over.

He said Deputy District Judge Jane Drew had been wrong when she told him to pay £30,000-a-year for each child.

The footballer said £60,000 a year was about a third of his gross annual income - and was too much.

A High Court judge has ruled in his favour.

Mr Justice Mostyn said Deputy District Judge Drew had made mistakes in the way she formulated figures - and should reconsider the case.

Detail has emerged in a ruling by Mr Justice Mostyn - who analysed an appeal by the footballer at a private hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

Mr Justice Mostyn did not identify anyone involved.

The judge said the player was "well-known" and in his early 30s.

He said the children were aged 10 and five and had different mothers.

Mr Justice Mostyn explained how Deputy District Judge Drew, who analysed the case at a family court in London, had said of the footballer: "The impression I formed was that he was a man who was determined to put his own expenditure and enjoyment first and his obligations to his children came a very poor second."