Tennis ace pleads guilty to assaulting his girlfriend

Tennis ace pleads guilty to assaulting his girlfriend

Nick Kyrgios - Image Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock.com

Tennis ace Nick Kyrgios has pleaded guilty in an Australian court to assaulting his ex-girlfriend Chiara Passari.

Kyrgios arrived at the ACT Magistrates Court on crutches according to ABC News on Friday, February 3 where the number 20 world-ranked player tried to have the charges against him dropped due to his fragile mental health.

Citing Section 334 of the local Crimes Act which gives courts the power to dismiss charges on mental grounds, his lawyers claimed the charges should be dropped. However, the judge disagreed because he is currently not suffering any “significant depressive illness.”

Medical records were submitted as evidence by his lawyers that he had suffered mental issues over the last several years.

The charges relate to a 2021 incident in which he grabbed ex-partner Passari and then pushed her to the ground in an argument over an Uber taxi ride. She is said to have grazed her knee and suffered an injury to her shoulder as a result.

Despite the injuries, Passari did not report it to the police until they broke up some 10 months later.

Kyrgios told Fox Sports that 2019 was a dark time saying: “I was lonely, depressed, negative, abusing alcohol, drugs, pushed away family and friends.

“I felt as if I couldn’t talk or trust anyone. This was a result of not opening up and refusing to lean on my loved ones and simply just push myself little by little to be positive.”

If found guilty of assaulting his girlfriend, Kyrgios could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in jail. The hearing continues.


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Written by

Peter McLaren-Kennedy

Originally from South Africa, Peter is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for the Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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