Former England rugby star says he considered ending his life after being wrongly accused of rape by an escort, as she admits stalking him for 14 months

A former England rugby union star considered taking his own life after being wrongly accused of rape by an escort, a court heard.

Marland Yarde’s career was left in tatters after sex worker Sandra Ntonya, 44, from Manchester, rang police and falsely claimed he had sexually assaulted a teenage girl.

Ntonya – who calls herself ‘the Justified Hooker’ – also stalked the winger for 14 months and repeatedly referred to him as a ‘rapist’ in social media posts, the court was told.

Following Ntonya’s allegation police arrested Mr Yarde, 32, and he was forced to leave his club, Sale Sharks.

The athlete was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing and no charges were brought against him.

But, the devastating effects the accusations have had on his life came to light yesterday during Ntonya’s stalking sentencing hearing.

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. 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, who is a mother-of-one, admitted to her lies and repeatedly apologised.

She managed to avoid a jail sentence after the judge heard there was a ‘realistic prospect’ of rehabilitation and immediate jail would see her young son ‘suffer’.

Instead Ntonya was handed a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

The court heard how Yarde had been using Ntonya’s services after breaking up with his girlfriend.

Details of Yarde’s nightmare emerged as Malawi-born Ntonya – who claims to have slept with a string of Premiership footballers – admitted a charge of stalking the rugby star over a 14 month period.

Yarde and Ntonya met in 2021 and he would visit her house in Gorton, Manchester, the court was told.

Mr Troup said: ‘He and his then girlfriend had separated and as a result his life spiralled out of control. 

‘He went from being a caring partner and father to someone who drank to excess. 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.’

Yarde’s troubles began when a teenage girl stayed over at the property in January 2022. 

The court heard he gave the unnamed teenager who was dressed in a bodysuit, a hoodie to wear and put her to bed in Ntonya’s spare bedroom where she fell asleep.

But the following morning at 11am Ntonya tipped off various journalists saying the star would be arrested – before calling 999 and alleging he had raped the girl. 

Mr Yarde was detained and quizzed for up to 15 hours before being taken home at 2am the following day.

He attended rugby training as normal but then learnt of Ntonya attempts to sell the story of his arrest. 

Mr Yarde – who won 13 caps for England between 2013 and 2017 – left Manchester after training and went to Surrey where he moved in with his parents.

He remained under police investigation for the six months before being told no further action was being taken against him. 

Ntonya herself was arrested on suspicion of administering a substance but no charges were brought against her.

She was arrested again when police were passed the various tweets she posted about Yarde. 

She said to be ‘excited’ about being detained and whilst clapping she said ‘This will be in the papers tomorrow.”

One tweet she posted referred to how money talks but ‘gangsters’ would not want anything to do with him.

 It added: ‘They probably have daughters themselves and may feel sickened at what you may have done in my spare room. They may reject your 30 pieces of silver. I am not disappearing yet.’

Other posts said: ‘It is called rape. He did it under my roof and now he’s been cleared.

‘The case has been filed because the victim is in a bad place. Mr Yarde remains free after r*ping a teenage girl’.

She also tagged Greater Manchester Police into her posts saying, ‘Why o Why’ and hashtagged Rugby Union, Rugby League and Rugby.

A further post tagging Bath Rugby Club, read: ‘There is an unconvicted rapist playing for your opponents. Terrifying.’

Ntonya – who has written a book about her ‘sexploits’ called ‘Confessions of a Justified Hooker’ – represented herself at the hearing having previously been advised by a lawyer on a pro bono basis. 

‘Marland is someone who says I did support him at his darkest hour and I was very happy to do that,’ she said. 

‘We had a bond and my house became a safe haven during a time of emotional turmoil. It is very sad that has ended up with me standing before the court now.

‘I know I will and even Marland himself, will the cherish some of the times that we had. There were times that he spoke about his grandmother. There are a lot of things apart from the sexual side, we had a bond.

‘I am so sad and I am very sorry for the enormous stress that I have caused because he opened up to me. 

‘I have opened up to him. I just want to express to Marland how very sorry I am. I am a law abiding citizen. I am just a mother and an escort. I have been in turmoil.’

Ntonya was sentenced to 20 months jail suspended for two years and was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, a six months mental health treatment and 15 rehabilitation activity days. 

She was also banned from contacting Yarde under the terms of an indefinite restraining order.

In sentencing Judge John Potter said he was taking into account the fact Ntonya was full-time carer to a son who has ‘very significant health difficulties.’

He told her: ‘You are a sex worker and Mr Yarde came to your house on more than one occasion. 

‘You maintain that he paid you for sexual activity. He denies this but it matters little.

‘He says that you cared for him and you became a distraction for him from issues that occurred in his life at the time.

‘On the 8 and 9 of January, 2022, Mr Yarde once more came to your house where another woman was present. 

‘Mr Yarde gave that woman a hoodie to wear and put her to bed in your spare room and she fell asleep.

‘In the early hours of January 9, 2022 Mr Yarde was arrested for the alleged rape of that woman. 

‘You have telephoned the police to make the initial complaint that this had occurred but prior to making that call you had also telephoned journalists to alert them as to Mr Yarde’s predicament.

‘Mr Yarde was taken to the police station where he remained in custody until he was taken home by the police at 2am on January 10.

‘On January 11, he went to train as normal at his then employers Sale Sharks rugby team. 

‘It was during training that Mr Yarde was informed you had sold your story. Mr Yarde left Manchester and remained under police investigation before being told no charges were would be brought against him.

‘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. 

‘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 behavior 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 your behavior.’

Mr Yarde is currently playing for the French team Bayonne but has insisted his daughter stay in England with her mother.