An ex-girlfriend of Jérôme Boateng accuses him of having beaten, bitten and boxed her while on vacation in the Caribbean. He denies that – and tells a completely different version in court.
[Munich / Lyon -] Ex-soccer player Jérôme Boateng has denied assault allegations in court. He did not hit and injured a former partner, he said on Thursday at the start of the trial at the Munich district court.
Prosecutors accuse the 33-year-old of attacking his former partner in July 2018 while on vacation in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. According to the indictment, he beat her, punched her, bit her in the head, threw her on the floor and insulted her violently.
In addition, according to the public prosecutor’s office, he is said to have thrown a glass lantern and a cooler bag at her “in full force”. The allegations are of insult and dangerous bodily harm.
Boateng described the incident in court differently: his former partner had become aggressive and insulting, injured his lip in an argument and hit him. When he tried to push her away from him, she fell. He didn’t throw a lantern at her either, but a pillow against a table – and the lantern fell to the floor.
The vacation had been very nice and peaceful until then. “It was a good mood,” he said – until there was an argument while playing cards in the evening.
After she and a friend of hers accused him of cheating while playing cards, the mood escalated. They would then have – as often before – argued over the question of how to organize their lives. Boateng wanted to move from Bayern to Paris that summer. It was also about loyalty and other partners.
The next day, however, the two had made up again. She was “in a good mood”.
The trial against the former Bayern star and 2014 world champion began amid great media hype. Boateng appeared in the courtroom in a dark blue suit and white shirt. This Thursday is the only scheduled day of negotiations. The verdict could therefore be pronounced during the day. [dpa]
