Rugby star ‘was demon’ as he attacked associate in resort earlier than being discovered useless

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Former Wigan Warriors rugby league star Ricky Bibey was found dead in a Florence hotel room in 2022 after subjecting partner Jennie Platt to serious violence

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The former partner of the late rugby league star Ricky Bibey was left with life-changing injuries after he attacked her in a hotel room in Italy while under the influence of alcohol and drugs, an inquest has heard.

The court was told that Jennie Platt said she ‘fought back’ during a confrontation with the 6ft 2in former sportsman, who weighed almost 19 stone, before losing consciousness during a brutal altercation in a hotel in Florence, Italy.

Mr Bibey’s naked body was subsequently discovered in a room at the Continentale Hotel in Florence, on July 16, 2022. The Salford-born former rugby league star, a father-of-three from Oldham, died of ‘neck compression’, a post mortem determined. He was 48, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Throughout his rugby league career, Bibey played for Wigan Warriors from 2001 but also represented Leigh Centurions, St Helens and Wakefield Trinity. He twice claimed the Challenge Cup.

However, an inquest into his death held at Rochdale Coroners’ Court on Monday heard he had battled with mental health issues and drug dependency following his retirement from the sport. His on-off partner at the time of his death, estate agent owner Jennie Platt, told the inquest she sustained life-changing injuries in the assault which left her in intensive care and needing multiple operations.

Ms Platt, providing evidence remotely, said she had journeyed to Italy with Mr Bibey in a bid to revive their relationship which began three-and-a-half years earlier. He underwent periods of residential treatment for his drug and alcohol dependency at Sporting Chance clinic, a charity for current and former athletes battling addiction, making a final visit to the facility in January 2020.

His father subsequently funded his attendance at a private rehabilitation clinic in Bolton called Acquiesce, but he suffered relapses following each intervention despite assuring his family he was committed to changing his life, the court heard.

“His taking drugs, it was just like a bit of a spiral really. It was almost like a crutch for him when he was really struggling and he would just go off. Sometimes he would go off for days and we would not see him for a few days. Then he would be upset with himself and apologetic. It was like he was disgusted with himself,” said Ms Platt, adding that he ‘felt really lost’.

Mr Bibey owned a property portfolio and operated a window cleaning enterprise, but it ‘wasn’t work that kept him busy every day’, she explained. Prior to the Italian holiday, his conduct had become ‘really erratic’ and he had ‘gone off the rails’, according to Ms Platt.

The court was told how the pair had resolved to discover if they could ‘make things work’, but he embarked on ‘a bender’ days before the Italy trip, according to Ms Platt, who revealed she informed him during a Facetime call that she had chosen not to travel.

She explained she subsequently altered her decision when he displayed a noose in his flat. She recounted how, once in Florence, they went out together. He bought a bottle of prosecco, poured her a single glass and then he ‘downed the rest’, she claimed. Mr Bibey kept ‘disappearing’ and she told the court she suspected he was purchasing drugs. She confessed to also partaking in some drug use.

Upon returning to their room at the Hotel Continentale, Ms Platt stated that she went to the bathroom and heard him snorting cocaine in the bedroom. She said she confronted him about his actions, and threatened to book another room for the night.

She then informed the court that she agreed to stay, but when she attempted to take a duvet to sleep in the bathroom, he ‘yanked her out’. Ms Platt claimed she ‘fought back’ and later assumed he had left the room.

When she heard a knock at the door, she thought it was the concierge coming to check on her due to the ‘quite heated argument’ they had been engaged in. But when Mr Bibey re-entered, she told the court ‘it was like it wasn’t him’.

“It was like his eyes. It was like a demon. His eyes were quite glazed and then it was like a big argument,” Ms Platt described, adding that he ‘was getting really agitated’.

Ms Platt stated that she suggested getting another room and he responded with ‘no you’re not’ and ‘no-one is leaving the room tonight. “I told him I’m really scared and he’s scaring me. I told him I was really scared: ‘Will you stop it I’m really scared’,” she relayed to the inquest.

In tears, Ms Platt recounted how Mr Bibey seized her as she was ‘scrambling to get away’ and she was kicking him ‘as hard as I could’. She said she was yelling her sons’ names in an attempt to deter him but she ‘just could not get away’.

Ms Platt recalled her ‘last breath’ before blacking out. When she regained consciousness on the bathroom floor, she said she saw Mr Bibey ‘hanging’ with a ligature around his neck. She said she thought she was screaming for help ‘but no noise was coming out’. She said she tried to revive him without success and then pounded on the door of a room across the hall to summon assistance.

Following several surgeries, Ms Platt ended up in intensive care in hospital with ‘life-changing’ injuries, the inquest heard. She was unaware of how she had been injured until Italian investigators presented her with photographs.

The inquest heard that Mr Bibey appeared ‘dishevelled and confused’ when he approached the hotel reception three-and-half hours prior to his death, alleging he had been hit on the head.

Once she was well enough, Ms Platt was questioned as a suspect rather than a witness by Italian police who initially treated the case as a potential murder, Detective Inspector Clare Harrison of GMP informed the court.

Florence detectives later decided not to pursue any further action against her, concluding that she was so severely injured she ‘physically would not have been able’ to exert the force needed on his neck.

Pathologist Dr Charles Wilson, who performed a second post mortem examination after the body was repatriated, confirmed the cause of death as ‘neck compression’, mirroring the conclusion of the Italian autopsy. However, he conceded that his post mortem had been ‘compromised’ as many organs had been removed for analysis during the post mortem in Italy.

He observed several injuries including a bruise on the scalp and abrasions to the head, neck, limbs and right wrist, along with additional bruising on the knuckles of his right hand. He stated that he could find no ligature marks on the front or back of the neck. Abrasions to his nose suggested he had either been pinched on the nose or had snorted cocaine, according to Dr Wilson.

The injuries were ‘entirely consistent’ with the evidence from the hotel room. The pathologist said he could not determine from the post-mortem medical evidence whether the neck compression was self-inflicted or caused by another person.

Toxicology tests carried out by the Italian authorities detected cocaine in Mr Bibey’s system, although the quantity ‘wasn’t high’, Dr Wilson noted. The tests also indicated alcohol consumption, the court heard. He acknowledged that the pattern of ligature marks on Mr Bibey’s neck – none at the front or back – were ‘a bit perplexing’ and did not ‘fall into any pattern to suggest self-suspension hanging’.

The court heard from Mr Bibey’s GP, Dr Peter Walsh, who revealed that Mr Bibey had been receiving treatment for mental health issues since 2017. Colin Bland, the director of Sporting Chance, stated that Mr Bibey was first referred to the charity in the same year, spending a month at its Hampshire clinic.

He returned in 2019 following an attempt by Mr Bibey to take his own life, and again in 2021. He received further support from the charity, founded by ex-Arsenal and England defender Tony Adams, in 2022. In 2022, Mr Bibey spent two months at another rehab facility, Acquiesce in Bolton, with the costs covered by his father.

His dad, Ronald Bibey, told the inquest that his son had been ‘a very happy child, curious and adventurous’ who shone at sport, always wore a ‘cheeky smile’ and was a ‘happy-go-lucky’ youngster. He had a ‘natural flair for rugby’, said Mr Bibey senior. His son realised his dream when he signed for Wigan Warriors at the age of 14, training three times a week alongside his secondary school studies, Mr Bibey informed the court.

Rugby had ‘instilled a great work ethic’ and discipline which he upheld throughout his life, said Mr Bibey snr. His son raised funds to participate in a rugby tour representing the North West Counties in New Zealand, Australia and Fiji and despite his success, it ‘never went to his head’ and Ricky remained ‘humble’, he added.

His mental health took a turn for the worse when a ruptured Achilles tendon forced him to retire from professional rugby, according to his father. “Like most people’s lives, he made mistakes along the way and he’s never to shy to take responsibility or say sorry,” said Mr Bibey snr.

He continued: “Ricky was very much loved and adored by his family and friends and by others in the community who he helped, loved and supported. We can never put into words just how loved he was and how proud he made us.”

Recording an open verdict, Assistant Coroner Lisa Judge recorded the medical cause of death as ‘neck compression’ but said although the evidence showed Mr Bibey placed the ligature around his own neck the evidence did not establish on the balance of probabilities whether at the time he intended to end his own life.

She found that Mr Bibey had been ‘struggling’ after his retirement from rugby which had provided him with ‘structure’ and ‘purpose’. The consumption of drugs and alcohol prior to his death ‘significantly impacted his personality and judgement’, she said.

Ms Judge said she accepted the account provided by Ms Platt who had been ‘subjected to serious violence by Rickey Bibey’ and she had acted to ‘defend herself’. Her injuries were ‘not compatible with her being responsible for any act of violence’ while she had suffered ‘exceptional trauma’.

She said of Rickey Bibey: “His behaviour had become irrational and confused and markedly different from his usual presentation.”

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