Former Blackburn Rovers footballer Colin Kazim-Richards has abandoned an appeal against his conviction for making a homophobic gesture at a match while playing against one of his previous clubs.

The 28-year-old was expected to appear at Hove Crown Court today but Judge Shani Barnes said the appeal had apparently been abandoned in October, although the court could not find any record of the application being made.

She said an email sent by Kazim-Richards' solicitor on Friday at 6.10pm asking why the case had been listed was only picked up by court staff at 8.30am today, meaning witnesses and police officers had turned up at court ready for the case to go ahead.

Judge Barnes said that Kazim-Richards' defence team claimed the court had responded but no trace of a reply had been found either.

There was no reason to believe that they were not telling the truth, Judge Barnes said.

At his trial in April, Kazim-Richards claimed he was bantering with the crowd when he made a homophobic gesture towards them while playing against his former club Brighton and Hove Albion.

The father of two young children, who was known as the Coca Cola Kid after being bought by Brighton and Hove Albion with proceeds won in a competition run by the drinks company, was on loan to Blackburn when he was seen making the gestures during Blackburn's Championship match against Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on February 12 last year.

But Brighton magistrates told the footballer they accepted the evidence of the four prosecution witnesses and found that the "gestures were insulting" and that they believed he was "aware that such gestures would be insulting".

Kazim-Richards was fined £750, ordered to pay £620 court costs and a £75 victim surcharge after being found guilty of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, within the sight or hearing of a person, likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.