Wednesday 6 July 2022 06:15 AM Father-of-two who left his partner for Ukrainian refugee says people want to ... trends now
A married father-of-two who left his partner and kids for a Ukrainian refugee who came to live with them has told of the backlash he and his new girlfriend have received.
Tony Garnett, 29, opted to abandon his family to rent a house with refugee Sofiia Karkadym, 22, just 10 days after she arrived to live with them.
Sofiia arrived at Garnett's family home in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in May after fleeing the conflict in her native Ukraine, but within days the pair had developed a connection.
The mother of Garnett's kids, Lorna, ordered Sofiia to leave and accused the IT worker of making passes at her husband, but Garnett decided to pack his bags and leave with his new lodger.
The 29-year-old told The Sun that he and his new love have incurred a torrent of hateful abuse online over their decision, while some people threatened to try and get Sofiia deported.
'[The public] don't have a clue. I am quite thick-skinned... Sofiia is getting abuse, people calling her a home wrecker, and people talking about petitions to deport her.
Garnett also revealed he gave up shift work to become Sofiia's full-time carer after she went partially blind following an eye operation, and said her arrival prompted him to cut off his relationship with Lorna which had long turned sour.
It wasn't as if we had met each other and decided then and there to move out. I was leaving regardless, because I'd had enough of Lorna, who took against Sofiia straight away,' Garnett, who also owns a security company, told Metro.
Sofiia suffered an eye infection in Germany en-route to the UK and now faces a six month recovery from an operation as a result.
Tony Garnett, 29, opted to abandon his family to rent a house with refugee Sofiia Karkadym, 22, just 10 days after she arrived to live with them
The 29-year-old told The Sun that he and his new love have incurred a torrent of hateful abuse online over their decision, while some people threatened to try and get Sofiia deported
Sofiia meanwhile insists she is not a 'homewrecker' and did not force Garnett to leave his wife and kids.
In a recent post to her Instagram page, the Ukrainian IT worker laid out what she took to be a few facts of the matter.
She said Garnett's decision to leave his long-term partner was a 'conscious and considered' one.
She again denied that she 'stole' anyone and attacked media coverage of the story which she said was 'clearly exaggerated and written in such a way as to be as dramatic as possible.'
'The first thing I want to say is that I did not steal anyone from the family. It was his conscious and considered decision, the decision of a 29-year-old man who has the right to fall in love, has the right to be happy and has the right to choose who to be with,' Sofiia wrote.
'The second thing I want to cover is the concept of the ''yellow press''. Do you really
