Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex girlfriend, Chiara Passari. However, the charge was dismissed.
He had argued for the charge to be dismissed on mental health grounds, but that was withdrawn after the court found Kyrgios was not suffering any current significant depressive illnesses. He then pleaded guilty to one count of common assault, with Magistrate Beth Campbell dismissing the charge, deciding no conviction should be recorded.
What happened?
The ACT Magistrates Court heard the allegations arose after Kyrgios and Passari got into a loud argument outside her Canberra apartment block. The argument caused Kyrgios to order an Uber, and when it arrived, Passari stood in the way to prevent him from leaving, according to court documents. The court heard he pushed her with sufficient force so she fell down, suffering a sore shoulder and a grazed knee.
Kyrgios was summonsed to a Canberra court mid last year over the incident.
“ACT policing can confirm a 27-year-old Watson man is scheduled to face the ACT magistrates court on 2 August in relation to one charge of common assault following an incident in December 2021,” a police spokesperson told The Guardian in 2022.
According to the ABC, the court heard Kyrgios told Passaro: “Leave me the f*** alone, I’m going home and don’t want to be with you. Just f***ing piss off.”
Magistrate Campbell said Kyrgios had acted “acted poorly in the heat of the moment” but that his action was at the lower end of common assault.
“It’s to your credit, in a way, in that you know you were being triggered in some way and you knew you needed to get out of the situation,” she said.
Afterwards, Kyrgios said that he respcted the ruling and was grateful to the court for dissming the charge.
“I was not in a good place when this took place and I reacted to a difficult situation in a way I deeply regret. I know it wasn’t OK and I’m sincerely sorry for the hurt I caused,” he said.
“Mental health is tough. Life can seem overwhelming. But I’ve found that getting help and working on myself has helped me to feel better and to be better.”
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