The former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott has angrily denied assaulting an ex-lover.

Geoffrey Boycott protests his innocence at a press conference (3'24")

"I am angry because she is making untrue remarks", he said at a press conference on Thursday.

On Tuesday he was given a three-month suspended sentence by a French court for repeatedly punching 45-year-old Margaret Moore at a hotel in the south of France.

Boycott, 57, who was also fined 50,000 francs (£5,100) for the attack, has appealed against the sentence. He has refuted Mrs Moore's allegations.

During the trial, the court was told that Boycott pinned Mrs Moore down and punched her 20 times in the face before checking out and leaving her to pay the bill.

The court was told that Mr Boycott punched Margaret Moore 20 times

Boycott denied hitting her and said she had sustained only one injury, which had occurred when they slipped while grappling. He said he had been trying to restrain her after she started throwing his belongings out of the window.

'I refused to marry her'

He said the situation had arisen over his refusal to marry her. He said the relationship was coming to an end and was turning sour.

He decided to leave the hotel after "becoming sick and tired of telling her that I am not going to [marry her], I am not the marrying kind." He said that when Mrs Moore found out she climbed onto the window ledge and said: "I might as well commit suicide."

Mrs Moore said the row took place in October, 1996, at a luxury hotel near Nice while she was on a trip for the computer company she heads. She said Boycott accused her of poorly negotiating his television contracts. She then went to their room to find him packing, she said.

She said they started to argue and he attacked her until she screamed. Mrs Moore's lawyer described Boycott's behaviour as a mixture of the brutish and the caddish.

Evening with Billy Joel

Boycott also denied leaving her at the hotel after the incident and said they spent that evening together drinking champagne with the American singer Billy Joel, his manager and his girlfriend.

Boycott said he and Mrs Moore spent the next two nights together and even flew back to London on the same plane.

Boycott, who was criticised by the judge for not attending court, said his lawyers - a French barrister, an English barrister and an English solicitor - told him the hearing would be adjourned.

He also denied that Mrs Moore had been his agent: "I haven't had an agent for 30 years," he said.
 

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