FORMER Newcastle United striker Faustino Asprilla has been arrested in Colombia accused of spraying security forces with machine gun bullets.

Asprilla, who was a hero in Kevin Keegan's first spell as manager of the club, has been placed under house arrest on charges related to illegal possession of weapons and criminal damage.

He is accused of spraying a privately run security checkpoint with a machine gun near his farm in southwestern Colombia.

The security post was struck by 29 bullets Asprilla has denied the charges and his lawyer, Carlos Sanchez, said he would appeal.

The owners of the guard house say that Asprilla, 38, reacted violently when a security guard refused to let Asprilla's friends, three women and a bodyguard, pass. No-one was hurt.

Asprilla is one of Colombia's most famous football players, appearing in two World Cups and playing for Newcastle as well as clubs in Italy, Brazil and Argentina.

Since retiring from football, he has appeared in reality shows and posed naked for a magazine in South America.

Asprilla said: "Seven people who were with me have not yet testified, and so I think it's a bit bit premature for me to be convicted.

"In fact, it reminds me of a movie that I once saw called Minority Report with Tom Cruise, in which people end up in jail even before you've committed the crime or even been tried."

Asprilla almost landed in jail in 1995 for shooting an illegal firearm outside a discotheque located on the outskirts of Cartagena.

Asprilla infamously almost signed for Darlington as a favour to then chairman George Reynolds.

However on the day he was to sign the contract he fled the country and has not returned since.