Former French star back in prison for drunken violence

Perpignan - Marc Cecillon, the former French captain who served seven years in prison for murdering his wife while drunk, has been ordered back behind bars after a night of drunk driving, violence and theft, legal sources said on Tuesday.

Known as "the Quiet Man" of French rugby, Cecillon captained the national side five times during a career that brought 46 caps in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

But problems with alcohol and depression followed his exit from the game. At a barbecue in 2004 he shot his wife Chantal five times with a .357 Magnum in front of guests following an argument.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison but freed on parole in 2011.

Earlier this month a judge in Perpignan, southern France, sentenced Cecillon to 12 months in jail, with six months suspended, after a night of violence in August at a vineyard where he was helping with the grape harvest, according to the local L'Independant news site.

The report said he assaulted the vineyard's owner and hit a truck while driving away from the scene before being stopped by police.

At his trial Cecillon, 59, acknowledged that he was still struggling with alcohol and the court ordered him to seek treatment.