On the darts stage he was “The Count”. And he entered it primarily in a black and red robe with a high stand-up collar, accompanied by eerie music. Before the arrows flew, Ted Hankey slipped into the role of Dracula, the bloodsucker, for a few minutes.

An appearance as part of the show. But now the darts player, who advanced into the world elite in the BDO association at the end of the nineties, has also become the embodiment of evil in real life. Hankey is a criminal. The 54-year-old was sentenced to two years in prison in England for sexual assault.

Specifically, it is about the attack on an underage woman who, according to media reports, belongs to the family of the father of five. On September 10, 2021, Hankey used force, pinning his victim against a wall and sexually harassing him. Almost two weeks later, the young woman filed a complaint, and on September 21, Hankey was arrested by the police.

The fact that he initially denied the crime and did not want to comment further may have prevented his sentence from being suspended, as Judge Steven Everett made clear in his verdict: “He would have denied it to the bitter end if it had not been filmed. “

Everett followed the prosecutor’s line of reasoning, who used Hankey’s behavior as an argument against parole: “He (Hankey) flatly denied any wrongdoing, expressed his surprise at being arrested and did not know why he did it accused.”

The fact that Hankey, as his defense attorney argued, did not plan the act, had confessed and apologized for his behavior was ultimately of little consequence. The supposed remorse only set in after he had been shown clear pictures of his crime. Hankey had not known that he had been filmed doing what he did. In addition to the prison sentence, the Englishman was put on the sex offenders’ register for the next ten years.

The judgment of his family should hit him even harder. His wife Sarah divorced him and all five children broke off contact with their father.

He was still active in sports until the very end and played in smaller tournaments and exhibitions. However, his greatest successes were a long time ago. In 2000 and 2009 he won the world championship title at the British Darts Organization (BDO). His first World Cup triumph is legendary to this day, as he defeated opponent Ronnie Baxter with 6:0 sets and made the triumph perfect with the 170 finish.

On the other hand, at the PDC, to which he switched in 2012 before returning just a year later, there were no great successes. The best results are two quarter-finals at the Grand Slam of Darts.