Comedian apologises for calling England defender Lescott a ''Klingon''

Comedian Omid Djalili has issued a public apology to England footballer Joleon Lescott after comparing him to a ''Klingon''- a fictional warrior race from the sci-fi television series Star Trek with ridged foreheads.

The British-Iranian performer made the comment on Twitter about scars on Lescott''s forehead, reports the Daily Mail.

Djalili was apparently unaware that the marks were caused after Lescott was knocked down by a car and dragged along the road when he was just a five-year-old.

Djalili tweeted saying: "I love u Lescott. Never said u were a deformity. Always rated him" and "To be fair a lot of forehead to aim for #Lescott."

He later added: "Bravo England, even though u give me 3 kinds of bowel disease watching you. Love Lescott. 1st Klingon at Euros."

Some of his followers took offence at his ''disrespectful'' comment and Djalili quickly repented by tweeting: "Like to apologise to Joleon Lescott if any tweets made last night caused offence".

"No idea he''s been injured in a car accident aged 5. Shouldn''t make remarks about people''s appearance whether they''ve been injured or not. Come on England!" he added.

"I was lucky. A lot of people have come off a lot worse than I did. I saw another little boy in hospital who came in without a scratch, but had suffered brain damage after being hit by a wing mirror. I have a scar but I have nothing to worry about," Lescott had said in 2006.

"I had a major operation straight away and several more over the next few months, but I was young and didn''t really know too much about what was going on," he added.

This, however, is not the first time Djalil''s humour has landed him in hot water.

In 2009, BBC3 controller Danny Cohen, who is Jewish, said he was offended by a joke Djalili had told about ''the Jewish secret service'', which used the stereotype that Jews are obsessed with money.