Alex Higgins-botrany:

Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins attacked a referee at an exhibition match against Jimmy White which was arranged to raise cash for young players.

The friendly game at a packed Spennymoor Leisure Centre, Co Durham, ended in chaos on Monday night when the official refused to carry on after he was punched in the stomach.

The 58-year-old two-times world champion from Belfast snapped when referee Terry Riley called a foul when the player touched the blue ball.

"Higgins was drinking pints of Guinness between frames. Every now and again he would do a dance and a little jig at the table. There was obviously friction between himself and the referee, who was a lovely man - very calm and collected. Between frames, the referee sat down to calm himself.
At the point where it all happened, Higgins touched a blue and the referee was going to let that go, because it was an exhibition match, but White said 'foul stroke' - but only being jokey. Then the referee called foul, so Higgins turned to the referee, glared at him for a few seconds, went up to him and punched him in the stomach.
The referee restrained him, and I thought he did a good job, and spectators came on and held him. The referee took off his gloves and abandoned the game."

The players carried on without a referee for a short time, before ending the match.

Higgins punches ref at charity match