Former vice president of £1billion steel firm, 54, who had 'smoked crack' is facing jail after punching his partner and dragging her across the floor
By Meg Byrom
Published: 09:04 EDT, 11 September 2024 | Updated: 10:10 EDT, 11 September 2024
The former vice-president of a £1bn steel firm punched his partner and dragged her across the floor in an 'erratic, scary' assault, a court heard.
Ian Holdsworth, 54, also pulled his female victim by the hair and made her nose bleed, before denying it and telling her to 'stop lying.'
He was formerly the managing director and vice president of stainless steel giant Outokumpu, who have offices all over the world including Singapore and Dubai.
But now h's been told he faces jail after being found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Sheffield Magistrates. He will be sentenced in October.
The victim told District Judge Marcus Waite how they first argued at a meal at Japanese BBQ restaurant Guyshi in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
She was then 'enticed' to his home after he texted he would 'leave her car running in the garage and throw her stuff on the lawn', the court heard.
The victim claimed when she arrived in the early hours of May 20 last year, she found Holdsworth had been 'smoking crack' and was 'erratic and scary.'
She said: 'He was rambling incoherently and shouting. He threw my phone off the balcony and locked all the doors.
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'He grabbed and pulled me by my hair. He dragged me off the sofa and from the living room to the kitchen by my ankles.
'He punched me in the face, which made my nose bleed.
'I remember holding a tea towel covered in blood, and he was shouting 'I haven't done that, I haven't done that, stop lying'.
'I told him he had, and he stamped on my foot and told me to 'stop lying'.'
Holdsworth's victim told the court she found a key to the back door and escaped to her mother's house.
She claims she doesn't remember how she got there, but may 'have driven there.' and failed a police report three months later in August last year.
In his defence, Holdsworth claimed he never wanted to see his partner that night, that she was 'drunk,' that she 'banged her head against the floor.'
He also said he 'cared for her and cleaned her up, because she was like a zombie' but the victim denied all of this.
Further, Holdsworth's defence counsel, Miss Hale, suggested during cross examination that 'it was actually you [the victim] that was abusing crack cocaine.'
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The victim rejected this suggestion.
Photos reportedly taken by the victim's mother showed how Holdsworth's partner suffered severe bruises to her back, eye and foot.
Miss Hale then asked the woman: 'Do you have experience putting make up on for TV and film effects?
'Is it being suggested. That what's in those pictures is, in fact, make up?'
'Mr Holdsworth's case is simply that he didn't cause those injuries.'
However, Miss Hale was invited by Judge Waite to speak with her client about this line of questioning.
When she returned, the defence counsel said: 'Thank you, judge - I'm going to move on.'
Holdsworth, of Sheffield, South Yorks., was arrested on August 12 last year and later pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
However, Judge Waite said: 'I am certain that the defendant is guilty as charged.
'[The victim] gave evidence in a manner that was, in my judgement, measured and credible.
'Whether Mr Holdsworth cannot remember or is simply incorrect in his recounting of events, I cannot say.
'But I am sure that [the victim] is telling the truth of the night in question.
'It was suggested that, at one point, the defence's case included that the pictures provided did not show injuries but, in fact, showed make up.
'Thankfully, that suggestion was dropped.'
Holdsworth was released on bail and will be sentenced on October 1 at the same court.
He was told by the Judge that the offence can 'only result in an immediate custodial sentence.'
