A former professional footballer who turned to dealing drugs after his career flopped has been jailed for more than four years after stabbing a teenager in a ‘vicious’ robbery with a ‘Rambo’ knife.
Causso Darame, who was signed by Swansea City FC in the Premier League when he was 16, left 19-year-old Ronnie Evans paralysed and with ‘life-changing injuries’.
Failed winger Darame, 25, stabbed Mr Evans in the leg and robbed his neck chain and bracelet in the late night robbery.
Darame, who once compared himself to Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, said he turned to a life of crime after he was dropped by Swansea as he felt like he ‘failed’ his partner and their newborn child.
He reportedly turned to dealing heroin and crack cocaine.
The father-of-one from Cardiff missed an artery in Mr Evans’ leg by ‘millimetres’ when he stabbed him, a court heard.
The young man has been left suffering ‘indescribable pain’ after two nerves were severed in the attack.
Darame admitted robbery and possession of a knife.
Causso Darame, 25, a former professional footballer who turned to dealing drugs after his career flopped has been jailed for more than four years after stabbing a teenager in a ‘vicious’ robbery with a ‘Rambo’ knife
At Portsmouth Crown Court, Hampshire, Darame was jailed for four years and four months.
Prosecutor Paul Fairley told the court that Mr Evans was with two friends in Ken’s Chicken Shop in Hampshire where he saw Darame, who was 23 at the time, around 3am on May 12, 2023.
Mr Evans, who was with friend Oliver Geen, then crossed the road.
Mr Fairley said: ‘Walking along, they became aware of the defendant behind them.
‘This time he had the large knife described as a Rambo knife. I imagine some sort of hunting type knife.
‘It was large and it plainly scared Mr Evans and Mr Geen, causing them to run off.
‘Mr Evans himself heard the defendant shouting “I’m going to catch you, and when I catch you, I’m going to kill you”.
‘The defendant did indeed catch up with Mr Evans.
Causso Darame was signed by Swansea City FC in the Premier League when he was aged 16
‘He ended up on the ground, where he was stabbed in the leg with a large knife and at the same time a necklace around his neck and another chain he was wearing around his wrist were snatched by the defendant, who then ran off.
‘The victim had quite serious injuries – a large degree of blood loss at the scene where it happened, severing of two major nerves.
‘Luckily as far as everyone in the case was concerned, the knife missed by a few millimetres the major blood vessels in his leg.’
In a victim impact statement, Mr Evans said that he has been left with paralysis in his leg from the knee down, meaning he cannot walk without a splint on his foot.
This, alongside the pain he experiences as a result of the nerve damage, has left Mr Evans unable to continue working as an apprentice electrician.
The previously active 20-year-old, who had played tennis to a very high level from a young age, is also unable to participate in sports like he used to.
For the defence, Daniel Reilly told the court that Darame had a youth contract with Swansea City FC from the age of 15 and was given a two-year professional contract at the age of 18.
He said: ‘All of that was really perhaps everything that had been dreamed of, almost appearing as if it was going to bear fruit and provide everything that Mr Durame had hoped for.
Daram was told by Judge Daniel Neill at Portsmouth Crown Court that his actions had changed the life of a man ‘in the prime of his youth’
‘He didn’t get the ability to perhaps take that forward and he had the end of that two-year period a decision made which brought to an end at that moment, without any further discussion with him, his professional football with that employer.’
When this contract ended, Darame ‘felt that he was failing in what he saw as part of his role within the family’ and because he ‘struggled to cope’ with that, he began to mix with drug dealers.
Mr Reilly said: ‘There was a feeling on Mr Durame’s part that he needed to be a provider, he felt that he was failing in what he saw as part of his role within the family and that’s where he struggled to cope.
‘And that’s where drugs came to feature, and with that the introduction to other individuals who themselves were involved in activities that had never been any part of Mr Durame’s previous lifestyle.’
When sentencing Darame, Judge Daniel Neill referred to the life-changing injuries inflicted on his victim and said: ‘That’s because of the vicious robbery that he was the victim of on 13 May 2023 when he was still just a teenager.’
He told the court that Darame’s actions had changed the life of a man ‘in the prime of his youth’.
Judge Neill said: ‘You had hoped to become a professional footballer, it didn’t work out.
‘Many dreams don’t work out, many ambitions.
‘By the time that your professional football contract sponsorship came to an end, you had a partner and a newborn child you felt you were failing.’
Judge Neill jailed Darame for four years and four months for the robbery and three months for the knife possession.
In the dock, Darame had no reaction to his sentence.
These sentences will run concurrently, and up to half will be spent in custody before Darame can be released on licence.
