A 'jealous and controlling' professional rugby league player who dragged his girlfriend out of a club and tore off her SmartWatch so she couldn't dial 999 before threatening her with a knife has been found guilty of assault and coercive behaviour.
Oldham RLFC prop forward Daniel Igbinedion, 26 attacked insurance broker Katy Lyles on a number of occasions during their relationship, a court heard.
Blonde Miss Lyles, 35, met 6ft 2in Igbinedion when he started as a personal trainer at Nuffield Gym, Shipley, West Yorkshire, which was opposite her workplace.
They started a relationship, but Miss Lyles said it soon turned coercive and violent.
'He would speak to me like I was piece of poo on his shoe - so disrespectful,' she told a jury, from behind a screen at Bradford Crown Court. She said he was jealous when she spoke to any other man at the gym and 'wanted my full attention all the time'.
In December 2018 they went together to a Nuffield Christmas party in Liverpool, where Igbinedion told her she was 'overdressed' and 'looked like a s**g', Kate told the court.
Oldham RLFC prop forward Daniel Igbinedion (pictured), 26 attacked insurance broker Katy Lyles on a number of occasions during their relationship, a court heard
She wore a long coat because of his objections even though it was warm and 'couldn't even go to the toilet' because he watcher her every move.
After visiting a number of bars with Igbinedion's work colleagues and bosses he suddenly decided he wanted to return to their hotel.
When she said she wanted to stay out 'he got really angry' and threw Miss Lyles across his shoulder.
'He got really angry. I was hoisted off my feet and thrown over his shoulder and he ran up metal stairs with me on his back,' she told the court. 'I was fearful. He just manhandled me.
'He literally dragged me
