For the second time in 12 years, former NFL star OJ Simpson faces a lifetime in jail after being charged with armed robbery, kidnapping and six other offences. Police allege Simpson led an armed hold-up of sports memorabilia collectors at a Las Vegas hotel. Simpson has insisted he was merely retrieving items that had been stolen from him. Attorney Yale Galanter confirmed that Simpson was released on $125,000 bail.

The incident is a further chapter in OJ’s spectacular fall from grace. Adoration turned to infamy in 1994 when Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown and her partner Ron Goldman were found dead. Simpson was soon charged with their murders. Simpson’s trial culminated on October 3 1995 in a verdict of not guilty.

In 1997, a civil jury found Simpson liable for the wrongful death of Ronald Goldman, ordering him to pay Goldman’s family $33.5 million dollars in damages. Simpson later attempted to sell the rights of a book “If I Did It” to boost his income. The book detailed how he would have committed the murders if he were the one responsible for them.

Sport’s hall of shame

Mike Tyson's boxing career was truncated for four years after the former heavyweight champ was arrested in July 1991 for the rape of beauty queen Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel room. Tyson was convicted on the charge on February 10 1992 and given a sentence of six years.

Former boxing champion Prince Naseem Hamed and footballer Lee Hughes were both imprisoned after being convicted of serious driving offences. Hughes received a three-year jail sentence for causing the death of Douglas Graham by dangerous driving. He was released in August 2007 and returned to football with Oldham Athletic. Former world featherweight champ Hamed’s dangerous driving caused a 90 mph head-on crash that left Anthony Burgin with serious injuries. The Prince pled guilty and was sentenced to 15 months but was granted an early release after serving just 16 weeks.

Perhaps the strangest case of all is that of cricketer Mark Vermeulen. The Zimbabwean suffered a number of disciplinary problems all of which occurred after he fractured his skull playing against Australia. Playing league cricket in Lancashire, he famously fought with spectators who made the mistake of sledging him as he was fielding. Far more seriously, the troubled star went on to be charged with arson in November 2006 following a suspicious fire at the Zimbabwean Cricket Academy in Harare.