According to reports, footballer Anthony Stokes has been arrested and is now to be sentenced after going two years ‘on the run’.
The 35 year old had a warrant issued for his arrest a year ago, and is now to face court after attacking his former girlfriend Eilidh Scott with a barrage of offensive text messages.
But in September 2022, he is said to have ignored calls from social workers ‘trying to create background reports on him’, and failed to appear, as per The Scottish Sun.
BREAKING: Ex-Celtic star Anthony Stokes arrested last night and finally due in court after two years on the runhttps://t.co/96NcrzaLdu pic.twitter.com/zt5d9EZBEK
— Scottish Sun Sport (@scotsunsport) September 6, 2023
It has now come to light that he flew from Dublin on Tuesday and handed himself in to a Glasgow police station, was taken into police custody on Tuesday (5th September 2023) and while in handcuffs, appeared in the dock at Hamilton Sheriff Court the next day.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “A 35-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an outstanding warrant.
“He is due to appear at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Wednesday, the 6th of September, 2023.”
Sheriff Ross Macfarlane KC branded Stokes a potential “flight risk”, however, granted bail after being told he had secured an address in Scotland, a flat owned by Donald Hughes, father of businessman Barry Hughes.
Going forward, he needs to sign in at London Road police station in Glasgow every Tuesday and Saturday until his next appearance at court.
Matthew McGovern, defending, said, as per Daily Record: “He failed to attend an earlier diet last year and there are no reports currently available.
“I understand why you would have deemed him a flight risk and his status is the issue here. One proposal would be to have him on a curfew and have him sign on at a police station.
“He flew himself over at his own expense and handed himself in.
“He has an address in Dublin but I have explained the issue the court would have with that and he has provided the address of a friend who lives here.”
Sheriff Macfarlane deferred sentence for new background reports to be prepared. Stokes is due to appear again next month.
Stokes has since thanked the dad of businessman Barry Hughes and his girlfriend after being released on bail.
Back in 2019, the ex-EFL and SPFL player admitted to a stalking and sending his ex, Eilidh Scott, abusive messages that saw him send 100 texts a day via WhatsApp and email, where he allegedly called her a ‘s**t’, a ‘s**’ and a ‘w***e’.
He admitted causing his ex-partner fear or alarm by repeatedly sending her “swear and utter offensive remarks between November 16th and December 3rd, 2019, and also repeatedly called her parents to “utter inappropriate and offensive remarks” about her.
He is also said to have turned up at her home in Shotts, Lanarkshire, late at night demanding to find out where she was.
The report adds that the abuse lasted for seven months, between July 2018 and February 2019, with another arrest warrant taken for him in 2021, again, he failed to appear.
Sheriff Allan McKay said: “He pled guilty and was released on bail and he has now left the country in breach of bail.
“He is not here in breach of his bail conditions and I’m not at all sure that he will come back unless required to do so by some sort of authority so to do that I’m issuing a warrant for his arrest.”
In August 2023, he was seen enjoying time out in Spain with a new girlfriend at a luxury Barcelona based hotel.
Just a few months prior that in February 2023, Stokes was to face Dublin District Court on a charge of possession of drugs for the purposes of sale and supply, and a number of counts of dangerous driving and a second charge of possession of drugs.
This came about following an incident where he was pursued by gardai, between Crumlin and Chapelizod in Dublin, on the 6th of January.
Sunday World write how it was alleged that Stokes drove dangerously and sped through traffic lights throughout the pursuit, with a quantity of white powder believed to be cocaine with an estimated value of €4,000, recovered from the glove-box of the vehicle.
News of an upcoming court appearance came just hours after he was arrested again, following another alleged pursuit, in the early hours of Tuesday the 31st of January, this time at around 3am.
This came amid reports of a Volkswagen Golf R failing to stop for gardaí at the M50 southbound near Cabinteely, leading to gardaí giving chase.
That pursuit lasted around 20 minutes with the vehicle was found abandoned in a housing estate near Loughlinstown.
Gardaí searched the area with Anthony Stokes arrested nearby.
He was taken to the station in relation to road traffic offences and questioned on suspicion of dangerous driving.
In a statement a garda spokesperson said: “Gardaí have arrested and charged a man in his 30s following an incident of dangerous driving in the Cabinteely area of Dublin.
“He is due to appear before Dun Laoghaire District court at a later date.”
Separately, in January 2022, Stokes saw his prosecution for headbutting a man in Dublin’s Temple Bar while with his girlfriend, struck out due to the absence of a key witness.
He was accused of assault causing harm to Fraser Spratt at Fitzgerald’s pub on Aston Quay, Dublin 2, on the 16th of March 2019, which he denied.
The charge was under section three of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
Court was told by his solicitor that his client “says he acted at all times in self-defence, proportionately”.
A lengthy adjournment was required for the hearing at Dublin District Court because the alleged injured party lived in the UK, the proceedings heard in 2020.
It was the second time Stokes had been before the courts in relation to headbutting someone in a bar as in 2017, he received a two-year suspended sentence for headbutting an Elvis impersonator, 53 year old Anthony Bradley, at Buck Whaley’s on Leeson Street, Dublin, on the 8th of June, 2013.
Anthony Bradley took a separate successful civil action in the High Court against Stokes, saying that he effectively gave up his career as an Elvis impersonator after the footballer headbutted him, leaving him with a broken nose and damaged teeth.
But he didn’t get the €230,000 awarded to him against Stokes at the conclusion of the case.
STOKES’ CAREER:
Youth career
2002–2003 – Shelbourne
2003–2005 – Arsenal
Senior career
2005–2007 – Arsenal – 1 game (0 goals)
2006–2007 → Falkirk (loan) – 18 games (16 goals)
2007–2009 – Sunderland – 38 games (5 goals)
2008–2009 → Sheffield United (loan) – 12 games (0 goals)
2009 → Crystal Palace (loan) – 13 games (1 goals)
2009–2010 – Hibernian – 48 games (24 goals)
2010–2016 – Celtic – 191 games (76 goals)
2015–2016 → Hibernian (loan) – 25 games (9 goals)
2016–2017 – Blackburn Rovers – 14 games (4 goals)
2017–2018 – Hibernian – 25 games (9 goals)
2018–2019 – Apollon Smyrni – 6 games (0 goals)
2019–2020 – Tractor – 25 games (13 goals)
2020–2021 – Adana Demirspor – 9 games (1 goal)
2021–2022 – Persepolis – 3 games (0 goals)
2022–2023 – Livingston – 0 games (0 goals)
Total – 418 games (160 goals)
International career
2006–2010 – Republic of Ireland U21 – 10 games (4 goals)
2008 – Republic of Ireland B – 1 game (0 goals)
2007–2014 – Republic of Ireland – 9 games (0 goals)
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