Sky Sports pundit sacked after assault
FORMER BORO STAR GUILTY OF ATTACK ON GIRLFRIEND
FORMER Middlesbrough and Sunderland footballer Peter Beagrie has been sacked from his Sky Sports pundit’s job after being found guilty of assaulting his partner.
Beagrie hit his girlfriend and threatened to rip her throat out during a drunken argument, a court heard.
The 51-year-old punched her “two or three times” during the row about whether he would marry her, Skipton Magistrates’ Court was told.
Middlesbrough-born Beagrie will no longer analyse the English Football League for Sky Sports, after the broadcaster terminated his contract following the trial’s outcome.
A spokesman said: “When we first became aware of the charge, we removed Peter from our coverage pending his case. Following the outcome we have terminated his contract.”
Magistrates heard claims the exEverton and Bradford winger regularly beat his partner and threatened to kill her. They dismissed two charges of assault, dating from November 2016, after Beagrie’s girlfriend Zarah Blake withdrew her allegations.
But Beagrie was convicted of a charge from April this year. Witnesses saw Beagrie shouting “I’m going to rip your f ****** throat out,” at Ms Blake, who the court heard had a 1cm cut to her lip and bruising on her body.
The argument started in Harrogate’s Blue Bar, where the couple were drinking after a meal.
Beagrie, who pleaded not guilty to one charge of assault by beating, said the argument started when the pair discussed marriage.
He said: “A conversation started up on when are we going to get married. I said ‘we both know that’s not going to happen’ ... and she slapped me across the face. It went from having a great time to a serious conversation that I didn’t want to be having.”
Beagrie told the court Ms Blake stormed out of the bar, and he later found her at the flat of an American security agency employee who worked in North Yorkshire’s Menwith Hill listening base.
But Beagrie denied assaulting Ms Blake, saying she fell backwards as he tried to pick her up and their heads clashed.
PC Crawford Evans, who attended the scene, said: “Mr Beagrie was towering over her and appeared to be shouting in her face. Ms Blake was visibly upset, she was crying and looked dishevelled. She appeared to be intoxicated. She said she’d been with Mr Beagrie for two years and that ‘he hits me all the time.’”
But she refused to make a formal statement, saying she didn’t want Beagrie to get into trouble.
Magistrate Brian Hughes said: “I did not find his [Beagrie’s] account to be credible. We are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the assault took place, you are guilty of the assault.”
Beagrie, of Killinghall, North Yorks, was given a 12-month community order, 15 days of rehabilitation and ordered to pay prosecution and court costs of £710. He has said he will appeal.