Soccer star-turned-actor Vinnie Jones has a heavyweight legal team in his corner to fight assault charges - he has hired the same lawyer who defended Mel Gibson and Lindsay Lohan.

The Mean Machine star is due in court on Tuesday after he was involved in a scuffle at a bar in Sioux Falls, South Dakota earlier this month. And he hopes celebrity attorney Blair Berk - who successfully represented Gibson and Lohan when they were hit with driving under the influence charges - will help clear him over the brawl.

The Hollywood hard man was pictured on CCTV apparently attacking Juan Barrera when a boozy night erupted in violence. Barrera's pal Jesse Bickett was held by cops but released without charge.

Jones, who insists he was the victim, needed 48 stitches to his face after he was struck with a beer glass.

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)