FORMER Blackburn Rovers footballer Colin Kazim-Richards has abandoned an appeal against his conviction for making a homophobic gesture at a match while playing against Brighton & Hove Albion — one of his previous clubs.

The 28-year-old was expected to appear at Hove Crown Court on Monday. But Judge Shani Barnes said the appeal had apparently been abandoned in October, although the court could not find any record of the application being made.

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She said an email sent by Kazim-Richards’ solicitor at 6.10pm on Friday asking why the case had been listed was only picked up by court staff at 8.30am on Monday, meaning witnesses and police officers turned up at court for the case.

The judge said that the player’s defence team claimed the court had responded — but no trace of a reply had been found. There was no reason to believe that they were not telling the truth, Judge Barnes said.

At his trial in April, Kazim-Richards, who is now at Dutch side Feyenoord on loan from Bursaspor, claimed he was bantering with the crowd when he made a homophobic gesture towards them while playing against his former club Brighton & Hove Albion.

He was on loan to Blackburn when he was seen making the gesture during a Championship match against Albion at the Amex Stadium on February 12, 2013.

Brighton magistrates told him they accepted the evidence of prosecution witnesses and found that his behaviour was insulting — and they believed he was “aware that such gestures would be insulting”.

Kazim-Richards was fined £750 and ordered to pay £620 court costs and a £75 victim surcharge after being found guilty of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, within the sight or hearing of a person, likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.