A former Dagenham and Redbridge footballer accused of gambling £16,000 using a card stolen from a pensioner has been acquitted.

Blair Turgott, whose made five appearances for the Daggers, was alleged to have carried out the scam at the Playboy casino in central London’s Park Lane on September 2016.

The 23-year-old winger, now signed to Maidstone, reportedly withdrew chips using 85-year-old Peter Dixon’s card, which had been nicked earlier by a fraudster posing as a bank employee.

Turgott, from Bromley, claimed he was given the card and PIN by a friend, “Ali”, who owed him the money for a job interview.

The ex-England youth international walked free on Monday after a jury found him not guilty of fraud and converting criminal property after a retrial at Southwark Crown Court.

Prosecutors asked for the fraud charge to lie on file.