Marland Yarde, the former England wing, was driven to thoughts of ending his own life after being wrongly accused of rape by an escort who stalked him for 14 months.
Yarde, now 32, was arrested in January 2022 after sex worker Sandra Ntonya rang Manchester Police and accused him of sexually assaulting a teenage girl.
The incident led to Yarde leaving Sale Sharks and more details came to light on Wednesday as Ntonya was sentenced for stalking Yarde.
Prosecutor Jack Troup told Manchester Crown Court: “Mr Yarde is a well-known rugby union player and he explains the impact of those repeated social media posts on him.
“He reports his mental health suffering and seeking the assistance of a psychiatrist. He reports contemplating suicide as a result of being repeatedly referred to as a rapist. He left the country and went to play rugby in France [with Bayonne]. As a result he had to terminate his relationship with a number of charities in England as it was not feasible to support them.
“It had an impact on his family life. He had to live in a separate country to his daughter. He decided not to relocate her to France but for her to remain with her mother. That caused him significant difficulties.”
Ntonya, 44, avoided jail, partly because she is a full-time carer to her young son. She received a 20-month suspended prison sentence as well as 100 hours of unpaid work, six months of mental health treatment and 15 rehabilitation activity days.
Mr Troup added that following the break-up of a relationship, Yarde’s “life spiralled out of control”.
“He went from being a caring partner and father to someone who drank to excess,” said Troup. “He admits he made a lot of bad choices.
“He said he paid for services of Ntonya as an escort but that they did not have sex – though that is a point of contention for Miss Ntonya.
“He says he saw her three times, and went to her house, and spent time talking to her. She cared for him, he said, and she became a distraction from his issues.”
It was heard that in January 2022 that Yarde had stayed at the house of Ntonya with a teenage girl, giving the latter a hoodie before putting her to bed. The following morning, Ntonya tipped off journalists that Yarde would be arrested before calling police and then making the allegations of rape.
Yarde was detained and questioned for up to 15 hours, then returned to training at Sale, where he learnt of Ntonya’s aim to sell the story. He moved to Surrey to be with his parents and remained under investigation for six months.
Ntonya, who has written a book called Confessions of a Justified Hooker, subsequently posted a string of accusatory messages on social media. These caused her to be arrested for a second time over the incident, having previously been arrested without charge on suspicion of administering a substance.
In sentencing, Judge John Potter stated that Ntonya used Yarde for her own gain.
“When Mr Yarde was still under investigation you posted negative comments online and spoke again to the media about the allegations Mr Yarde then faced,” he said. “So far as playing in the English leagues was concerned, his career was over and he had to move to France to continue with his profession. I understand that as a result he became ineligible to be selected for the English national team.
“You appeared to have been angered by you being arrested and acted in revenge and posted online pictures and moving images of him leaving your address and his motor vehicle when he had visited you. To make matters worse you continually posted online material which made multiple references directly or indirectly to Mr Yarde being a ‘rapist’, which was wholly untrue.
“You sent similar descriptions to Mr Yarde, to his employers Sale Sharks and to teams he was playing against. You spoke about him in an uncomplimentary fashion in video clips online which were posted by you. Some of those posts make reference to you and to a particular title that you have afforded yourself it seems as a willingness to promote a book you have written which is available online about your work in the sex industry.
“The behaviour by you towards Mr Yarde was highly abusive and damaging. The behaviour also portrays you as attention-seeking and narcissistic. The truth is that you were prepared to exploit the predicament of another for your own gain – firstly from this story to the press and secondly from selling of the book.
“Others close to Mr Yarde have also been targeted for abuse as a result of their association with him as a consequence of how you portrayed him online. He has been significantly affected by the psychological harm that he has suffered due to your behaviour.”
