A Finnish court on Tuesday convicted former Olympic ski jumping champion Matti Nykanen of aggravated assault against his wife and sentenced him to one year and four months in prison.
The district court in Pirkanmaa said the 47-year-old attacked his wife, Mervi Tapola, with a kitchen knife in their southern Finland home on Christmas Day last year. They have since divorced.
Nykanen denied the charges, saying he only tried to defend himself and that his wife's numerous knife cuts and scratches resulted from a struggle over possession of the knife.
The court rejected a charge that Nykanen had tried to strangle his wife with a bathrobe belt, citing lack of evidence. He was ordered to pay Tapola (EURO)10,295 ($13,000) in damages and compensation for legal fees.
Nykanen's lawyer Tero Lakka told The Associated Press that the former ski jumper would appeal.
Nykanen won four gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, was a four-time World Cup champion and winner of numerous international events, but his career has been overshadowed by problems in his private life.
In 2006, Nykanen was sentenced to four months in prison for another assault on his wife.
That attack occurred just three days after he was released from jail having served 13 months of a 26-month sentence for a stabbing offense in 2004.
No comments:
Post a Comment