Former professional darts player Ted Hankey, who was BDO world champion in 2000 and 2009, has pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault at Warrington Magistrates’ Court
Ted Hankey has pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault
Former world darts champion Ted Hankey has pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault.
Hankey, 54, appeared at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with intentionally touching a woman over the age of 16 on September 10 last year. District Judge Nicholas Sanders adjourned the case to Chester Crown Court where Hankey will be sentenced on May 12.
Last month Hankey, who won the BDO world crown in both 2000 and 2009, was released on bail after being charged by Cheshire Constabulary. The authority then released a statement saying: “The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised Cheshire Constabulary to charge Edward Hankey with the sexual assault of a woman.
“The CPS made the decision to charge the 54-year-old after reviewing a file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary. The charge relate to an incident that occurred in Cheshire in September 2021.”
Hankey will be sentenced on May 12
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As well as his two titles Hankey, whose nickname is ‘The Count’, was also a runner up in both 2001 and 2004. At the peak of his career, he became famed for entering arenas caped in a cloak, and his walk-on music was the 2002 song ‘Be on Your Way’ by DJ Zany.
His first world title was achieved with a Lakeside final that went down in folklore, as the Stoke-on-Trent born player routed ‘The Rocket’ Ronnie Baxter 6-0 at the Lakeside. Furthermore, he sealed the win on the bullseye with a maximum 170 finish.
Following his second title win, he left the organisation and signed with the PDC, but never achieved the same level of success in the latter. His last tournament triumph came in 2011, when he prevailed in the Isle of Man Open.
In 2012 though, Hankey struggled with much publicised health problems and had a mini stroke during a match. He would later returned to the BDO and continued to try and qualify for events, but he struggled to regularly make the main draw for tournaments and in 2018, he was the subject of a bankruptcy order made at a London court by HM Revenue and Customs.
In December last year it was announced he was surprisingly withdrawing from the World Seniors Darts Championship, held in February. No reason was given by organisers for his absence, just the following statement: “Following correspondence received from Ted Hankey, he has confirmed that he has formally withdrawn from our February WC22 event. Details on his replacement will be announced in due course.”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/darts/breaking-ted-hankey-sexual-assault-26711074
