Former Rugby Star Jailed for Sexual Assault in Cardiff

🚨 A former Ugandan Rugby Sevens player who represented his country in the 2014 Commonwealth Games has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for rape in Cardiff.

Philip Pariyo, 32, who claimed asylum in Wales after disappearing from the Games in Glasgow, was found guilty of attacking a woman he considered a friend in June 2021.

The victim’s powerful statement revealed the devastating impact: “No one in the world should go through what I did, fighting and begging for my life. It has left lasting impacts on me, and has felt like an open wound that I can never heal from.”

Judge Celia Hughes condemned the “appalling attack,” stating: “Someone with your physical strength and who played at such a high level in your sport should act as a role model to others. But instead you manhandled this woman as entirely as you wished.”

Despite writing a letter expressing he was “genuinely sorry to those who suffered from my actions,” Pariyo had denied the charges, forcing his victim to relive the ordeal in court. ⚖️

The court heard how Pariyo, who worked as a waste management worker for Cardiff Council, had “badgered” the victim for sex before attacking her, even suggesting buying condoms the following day.