Boycott 'doesn't deserve knighthood'. says ex-girlfriend

Geoffrey Boycott has always denied assaulting his ex-girlfriend

The ex-girlfriend of former cricketer Sir Geoffrey Boycott has said he does not deserve a knighthood after he was convicted of assaulting her in 1998.

Margaret Moore, 67, said in an interview with the Sun newspaper that the decision was "disgusting".

The award, bestowed on him by former PM Theresa May in her resignation honours list, has been strongly criticised by domestic abuse charities.

Boycott told the BBC he "couldn't give a toss about the criticism".

The former England captain was fined around £5,000 and given a three-month suspended sentence after being convicted of beating Ms Moore in a French Riviera hotel.

The court heard during the trial that Boycott pinned Ms Moore down and hit her 20 times in the face before checking out and leaving her to pay the bill.

Boycott has always denied the claims, saying Ms Moore had slipped after becoming angry when he refused to marry her.

But Ms Moore told the Sun: "He doesn't deserve a knighthood. It's disgusting."

She said she would "never forget" the night of the attack, adding: "What sort of man does that and is then made a knight? He should hand it back."

The French judge who convicted the cricketer told the Guardian on Friday she stands by her guilty verdict, saying his conduct during his trial had been "arrogant" and "deplorable".

"I cannot believe he's being received by the Queen," Dominique Hauman said, also arguing that Boycott did not deserve his knighthood.

Women's Aid's co-acting chief executive Adina Claire has accused Mrs May of sending a "dangerous message" by knighting Boycott.

She said the honour "should be taken away" from him, adding that it sent "completely the wrong message" to survivors of domestic abuse.

Mrs May has previously said Boycott is one of her sporting heroes and compared her determination to deliver Brexit with the fighting spirit shown by the opening batsman during his career.

She said in November 2018: "Geoffrey Boycott stuck to it and he got the runs in the end."

Since his retirement from cricket, Boycott has gone on to become a successful broadcaster and is part of the BBC commentary team covering the current Ashes series.

But he had to apologise in 2017 after joking that he would need to "black up" to be awarded a knighthood, reportedly saying they were handed out to West Indian cricketers "like confetti".