England full-back Mike Brown banned for SIX weeks for head stamp and red-card

MIKE BROWN has been banned for SIX weeks and his Harlequins career is over.

The England full-back was sent off for stamping on the face of Wasps hooker Tommy Taylor.

Brown, who received his first ever red card on Saturday, managed to have his sentence halved from 12 weeks.

And as he leaves his boyhood club this summer for Newcastle Falcons, the 35-year-old won’t be able to have the proper farewell match that he would have hoped for.

A statement said: “The panel reviewed extensive video footage, which included numerous angles and speeds and heard direct evidence from the player as to his actions and intentions.

“Having considered the totality of the evidence the panel was satisfied that whilst this was a stamp to the head, it was not deliberate.

“Given the location of the contact and the nature of the actions the panel considered that this was a top end entry point but that there was no reason to go above the starting point of 12 weeks.

“The player has an unblemished disciplinary record over a long and illustrious career, he accepted the charge at the earliest opportunity and impressed the panel with his honesty and obvious contrition throughout the hearing.

“The panel had no hesitation in allowing the maximum mitigation of 50%.

“The panel would encourage supporters of the game to avoid viewing this as nothing more than a brief video on social media which does not capture the full nature of the incident.”

Quins promised Brown that they would ‘go balls-out to defend him’.

Ex-Lion Adam Jones, now a coach with Quins, said: “In those situations when you’re being held in it can look a lot worse than it was.

“There was a lot going on as it happened. Let’s wait until next week and see what happens.

“He is gutted. I’m sure the club will go balls-out to defend him as much as we can.

“Hopefully common sense prevails and the different issues with it come through.”