Daniel Igbinedion, a Nigerian-born professional rugby player, has been handed a jail sentence in the UK for subjecting his former girlfriend to abuse and threatening to end her life.
Igbinedion, 26, was convicted of controlling and coercive behaviour and three charges of assault in October.
The former West Yorkshire rugby league player was sentenced to three years and three months in jail on Tuesday, December 21.
Katy Lyles, 35, suffered repeated attacks by Igbinedion over two years, Bradford Crown Court heard.
The court also heard that Igbinedion dragged the insurance broker out of a club and tore off her SmartWatch so she couldn’t dial 999 before threatening her with a blade.
Lyles who was in a relationship with prop forward for 18 months, spoke out about her horrific ordeal.
Speaking after sentencing, she said when she met the the former Castleford Tigers, Featherstone Rovers and Dewsbury Rams player she believed he was a “decent guy” but quickly became “possessive and jealous”
The powerfully-built Igbinedion had first met Katy when he became her personal trainer at her local gym.
“About six months into our relationship he became physically violent, and showed me that he had a very evil side to him,” she said.
“He made threats which made me scared of what he would do to me and my family. He held me prisoner and followed me everywhere. He proposed to me and even promised that he would never harm me again – if I accepted a promise ring from him. I rejected his proposal and then, months later, he tried to kill me.”
Igbinedion, who was arrested in December 2020, carried out the abuse between May 2018 and March 2020.
Judge Andrew Hatton said that Igbinedion had accused Katy of being disrespectful to him and it was clear that he felt himself, as a professional or semi-professional sportsman, to be somewhat different to everybody else.
Judge Hatton said that Katy was in a sense under Igbinedion’s spell and the relationship continued, despite her seeing a deeply unpleasant side of him.
On one occasion, she had dressed up for a Christmas party in Liverpool and Igbinedion had called her a “slag” so she had spent the rest of the night wearing a coat over her outfit.
