Former national soccer player Jérôme Boateng has been convicted of willful bodily harm to his former partner. The Munich District Court imposed a fine of 60 daily rates on Thursday – a comparatively mild penalty, which, however, adds up to 1.8 million euros because of Boateng’s high salary.
The public prosecutor had demanded a suspended sentence of one and a half years in addition to a fine of 1.5 million euros. Boateng, so it is in the indictment, is said to have hit the woman, punched her, bitten her in the head, thrown her on the floor and insulted her violently. He is also said to have thrown a glass lantern and a cooler bag at her “in full force”.
The court considered it proven that Boateng attacked his former partner Sherin S. during a Caribbean vacation in July 2018, but only assumed a single blow.
The footballer, who was under contract with FC Bayern for ten years until the end of last season, denied all allegations in the one-day trial and presented the events differently: he did not injure his former partner. On the contrary, Sherin S. had become aggressive, injured his lip in an argument and hit him. When he tried to push her away from him, she fell.
The vacation was very nice and peaceful, until there was a dispute that evening, said Boateng in court. After his ex-partner and another friend accused him of cheating while playing cards, the mood escalated. He and his partner at the time would then have – as often before – argued over the question of how to organize their lives. Boateng wanted to move from FC Bayern to Paris that summer. It was also about loyalty in the relationship. The next day, however, the two got along again and were “in a good mood”.
An expert had supported Sherin S.’s description at the hearing. “The findings that were documented here can largely be reconciled with the description of the events of the co-plaintiff,” said the doctor. The black eye that S. had suffered that evening cannot be reconciled with Boateng’s description.
Sherin S. described the relationship with Boateng in court as “always turbulent” and “very toxic”, and attacks like the one on vacation in the Caribbean were “almost the order of the day”. Nevertheless, she always missed the moment to separate, especially because of their children. She was only ready two months after the incident on vacation.