Tennis coach father ‘starved, kicked and spat at his daughters to turn them into Wimbledon champs’
A TENNIS coach who wanted to turn his daughters into Wimbledon champions beat and starved them for not training hard enough, a court heard yesterday.
John De’Viana is also said to have forced them to play from dawn until bedtime in an obsessive bid to make them sporting greats.
The 55-year-old’s two talented offspring were once considered among Britain’s most gifted youth players.
The pair appeared destined for stardom after securing a place on an elite training programme funded by the Lawn Tennis Association, where they met British champion Sir Andy Murray.
But behind the scenes, Monaei De’Viana, now 21, and her 19-year- old sister Nephe claim their father subjected them to a torrent of physical and verbal abuse – kicking, starving, slapping and spitting at them if he felt they had not performed well enough on the court.
De’Viana, of Ilford, Essex, denies two counts of cruelty to a person aged under 16. London’s Snaresbrook Crown Court heard yesterday how his methods ‘went beyond’ those of ‘ demanding parents’ such as Judy Murray, who coached her children – two-times Wimbledon winner Andy and former world doubles champion Jamie.
De’Viana allegedly forced his daughters from the age of three to play for up to seven hours a day in his bid to make them ‘rich, famous and successful tennis players’.
He took them out of school to enforce gruelling all-day training regimes, making both practice on court from 5.30am until they went to bed.
The pair were not allowed to eat their packed lunch if he thought they were not trying hard enough, it was said.
The sisters, who both turned their backs on tennis after their parents split up, said their father was ‘ always in coach mode’, constantly barracking them, calling them ‘ mother*******’ or ‘fat, lazy c****’.
Yesterday Monaei, who is now an actress, told how her obsessive father spat at her as she was driven back from a tennis tournament ‘ because he considered she had not performed as she ought to’.
When her sister Nephe was given a new tennis bag as part of a sponsorship deal, her father said she ‘had not earned that’ and forced her to carry her kit in a black bin bag instead to ‘humiliate’ her, the jury was told. Nephe was also allegedly kicked and slapped by her father, who formerly competed at a high level in karate. The fashion student told the court she was made to run around a court for up to seven hours without a break, and her father would serve balls at her if she did not train hard enough. On one occasion, he is said to have taken her off court behind a curtain to punch and kick her, holding his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming. The jury heard that De’Viana also once dragged one of the girls off an exercise bike in fury because they were timing a session with a phone rather than a watch. David Povall, prosecuting, said: ‘It is the Crown’s case that, over a period of years, he made the lives of his two daughters miserable in a variety of different ways, but primarily around his ambition that they should be rich, famous and successful tennis players. ‘Over the years, he continued to push these girls in their tennis training and he also involved other professional coaches to help them.’ Mr Povall told the jury that De’Viana wasn’t just a pushy parent – he also mistreated his children, who were homeschooled from the age of 11 so they could have more time for tennis training. He said: ‘He subjected them to a tough, rigorous and demanding training schedule of stretching, physical exercise and tech- nical tennis training. In itself, there is nothing wrong with that. ‘We all know, or have been ourselves, pushy parents, and where there is a child who shows talent then it is not surprising or wrong that their parents should encourage them, discipline them and help them make the very best of that talent.
‘It is right to say that both girls had some success as junior play- ers. Any of us who are parents, we all do the same: ‘no TV until you do your homework’, for example. ‘However, it is the Crown’s case that John De’Viana’s behaviour went beyond that. It went beyond the mother of the Murray brothers, who was a demanding parent and got them to the very highest level in tennis. ‘John De’Viana behaved in a way that went so far as child cruelty as the law defines it, that is he assaulted or ill-treated his children over time so as that the cumulative effect was likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to health. ‘He did that on the Crown’s case by way of physical assaults and mental abuse of those girls, relentlessly over a period of years.’ The sisters claim their father’s abuse only ended when De’Viana split up with their mother in 2011. But Tara Adkin QC, defending, accused the pair of making up the allegations to get their father into trouble. She asked Nephe why her mother had not seen the bruises when she gave them sports massages, saying: ‘You said your mother didn’t know he was hitting you and didn’t see any of the bruises. ‘ Your legs would have been covered in bruises. Are you making this up? Are you saying this to get your father into trouble?’ Nephe, giving evidence via videolink, responded: ‘She didn’t see all of them, she saw some of them.’ The barrister continued: ‘You had an inside court booked at Redbridge Sports Centre every day. Wouldn’t the people have heard your father screaming abuse at you?’ She answered: Yes. I told ‘ my father frequently that I hated playing tennis. One time I did stop, but he manipulated me back into playing tennis.’ Miss Adkin told the court that De’Viana had hugged Nephe and told her he loved her the last time he saw her. But she replied: No. He never ‘ gave me a hug and told me he loved me, he just said the tennis is over and that was that.’ The trial continues.
‘Forced her to carry kit in a black bin bag’ ‘Relentless physical and mental abuse’