French prosecutor seeks suspended jail term for Armitage

England's Steffon Armitage scores a try against New Zealand Maori during their international rugby union match in Napier June 23, 2010. REUTERS/Anthony Phelps

MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) - A French prosecutor on Tuesday called for Toulon's England forward Steffon Armitage to be handed a suspended jail term of between five and six months for an alleged assault in the port city. The Toulon tribunal will make its ruling on Feb. 24. Flanker Armitage and his Toulon team mate Xavier Chiocci were arrested last month following an incident involving a 30-year-old man after the European champions defeated Leicester in the European Champions Cup last December. Armitage denied any wrongdoing, saying he was 'very inebriated", adding he did not remember having hit anyone voluntarily. Armitage, one of the key men in the club's rise to the top of the French and European game, has been frozen out of the England squad because the Rugby Football Union do not select overseas-based players. He has won five international caps. (Reporting by Jean-Francois Rosnoblet, writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Justin Palmer)