By Yusuf Boluwatife
Nigerian-born professional rugby player, Daniel Igbinedion has been sentenced to three years imprisonment in the UK over an alleged assault on his 35-year-old girlfriend, Katy Lyles.
The 26-year-old was convicted on Tuesday by Bradford Crown Court.
According to UK’s Daily Mail, the rugby player met Lyles when he started as a personal trainer at Nuffield Gym in, Shipley, West Yorkshire, which was opposite her work place.
Igbinedion reportedly dragged his girlfriend out of a club and started threatening her with a blade. He was also said to have torn off her SmartWatch so she couldn’t dial 999 for help.
The court was told how Igbinedion once attacked his girlfriend at his residence at Bingley, after a night out in Leeds. Igbinedion allegedly kept Kate “prisoner” and strangled her until she was out of breath reports stated.
As a result, the jury found him guilty of controlling and coercive behavior and three separate assault charges in October, 2021.
The presiding judge, Judge Andrew Hatton jailed Igbinedion for three years and three months, and subjected him to a five-year restraining order which bans him from contacting the complainant directly or indirectly.
“I have to deal with you for this sustained course of conduct including gross offences of violence against a background of controlling and coercive behavior,” he said.
