A FOOTBALL hooligan who is already set to miss the World Cup has now been electronically tagged and ordered to stay in at weekends.

Magistrates imposed the punishment on David Ellis after he admitted being drunk and disorderly at a railway station, and breaching a previous court order as a result.

Ellis, 22, is one of 24 York and North Yorkshire football fans who have been barred from the World Cup this summer.

Scarborough magistrates were told police officers spotted Ellis, of Navigation Road, York, looking dishevelled and dirty outside the railway station in Malton on Sunday, January 15.

He was drunk, abusive, and only wearing one training shoe.

Martin Summers, prosecuting, said: "When an officer took hold of his arm to restrain him, Ellis attempted to head-butt his colleague."

Ellis was handcuffed and taken into custody.

In court, Ellis pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly in a public place, and in doing so breaching an earlier court order.

Ellis, who was not represented by a solicitor, said: "I go out for a few drinks, get a bit lairy and one thing leads to another. I never plan to go out and get drunk.

"I drink in moderation. I don't think I have a drink problem, but nine times out of ten, when I get drunk, I end up in trouble."

The court heard a list of Ellis' previous convictions, including:

lPossessing intoxicating liquor in a sports ground in Manchester in February 2004;

Invading a playing area at a football match in York in December 2004

Being drunk and disorderly in York in August 2005.

In December 2004, magistrates in York gave Ellis a banning order under the Football Spectators Act.

The order required him to sign in at Fulford Road Police Station, in York, while an international match was being played, to show he was still in the country.

But England's high-profile 3-2 victory over Argentina in November 2005 proved too much for Ellis, and he failed to sign on with police that day.

There is no suggestion he actually went to the game.

Ellis is unemployed, and already owes thousands of pounds in court fines. Magistrates ordered Ellis to complete a six-month supervision order, including a ten-day course to address his alcohol misuse. He was also electronically tagged, and ordered to stay at home for the next three months from 8pm to 6am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The football banning order will remain in place until December 2007.

Updated: 09:53 Saturday, March 04, 2006