A Manchester United player has narrowly avoided jail after threatening a mugging victim to stop him giving evidence.

Ravel Morrison - a promising 18-year-old midfielder - admitted witness intimidation and was told he would be jailed for a year if he was in trouble again.

Morrison, who made his first team debut against Wolverhampton in November, was sentenced earlier this year - but the details can only now be revealed because he has since turned 18.

Trafford Youth Court heard how Morrison and two of his friends - Daryl Garwood, also now 18, and a teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons - intimidated a teenager who had been robbed at knifepoint by two other boys, described in court as 'friends or associates' of Morrison, in September 2009. 

Over the course of two days, Morrison contacted the boy - who had his trainers and music player stolen in the attack  - a 'number of times' by mobile phone. 

The court heard how the calls began to take on a more threatening nature and Morrison offered to buy goods to replace the stolen items - in return for the victim dropping the charges. 

In one call, he told the boy he was in the Trafford Centre buying the replacements.

During the conversation Morrison, from Denton, warned: 'You don't know me any more. You don't know what I'm capable of.'

The victim later received a threatening message on Facebook from Morrison, saying: 'Watch yourself. You trying to set me up like that.'

The following day, the court heard, the victim and his brother were approached and threatened by Morrison, Garwood and the unnamed teenager outside a takeaway in the Flixton area of Manchester

The three later appeared in the victim's front garden in the early hours of the morning.

The victim, along with two of his brothers, chased them to the junction of Marlborough Road, Flixton. But Morrison, Garwood and the unnamed teenager were then joined by around 16 people who ran towards the victim and his brothers.

Morrison - described on the United website as a 'supremely gifted talent' - changed his plea to guilty on the day his trial was due to start.

He admitted two charges of intimidating a witness. Garwood and the teenager pleaded guilty to one offence of witness intimidation.

The court heard the victim was so traumatised by the incident that his family have put their house up for sale - and they want to move away.

Morrison - who signed professional terms with United on his 17th birthday, just days before he was arrested - was sentenced to a 12-month referral order and ordered to pay £1,445 in costs and compensation. District judge Wendy Lloyd warned Morrison he would be jailed for 12 months if he put a foot out of line.

She said: 'I have a straight-forward choice - send you away or give you a referral order. I've decided to give you a referral order but you will be spending 12 months in a young offenders institute if you breach it.'

David Fish QC, defending, said that the club was providing Morrison with clear support. Garwood and the unnamed teenager were each given 10-month referral orders and ordered to pay £80 in compensation and £50 court costs.

A United spokesman said: 'The club does not in any way condone Ravel's actions, but he is a very talented player with a bright future ahead of him. The right thing to do now is to support him and help him in the process of his rehabilitation.