Billionaire dirtbag bounced England WAG on knee before he got 110 years in jail
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2008 saw billionaire financier Allen Stanford make the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Back in the late 2000s, the England cricket team headed out to the Caribbean to play in the 'Stanford Super Series', which was a series of T20 matches backed by Stanford himself. Initially pitched as a five-year deal with the ECB, the 'Stanford Super Series' aimed to pit England against the 'Stanford Superstars', a team made up of Caribbean All-Stars.
The final, a $20million (£16.5m) cricket match, ended in England losing by 10 wickets in an embarrassing defeat. But it was what happened days prior to the final that brought Stanford, who was jailed in 2012 for 110 years for his involvement in a £7billion ponzi pyramid scheme, into mainstream focus.
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During England's warm-up match against Middlesex, Stanford was seen chatting with the England WAGs, bouncing wicketkeeper Matt Prior's wife, who was pregnant at the time, on his knee. He was also seen flirting with England batsman Alastair Cook's girlfriend, Alice Hunt, whom he married in 2011.
The scenes which unfolded mid-game did not impress the England squad one bit. In fact, newly retired England bowler Stuart Broad said back in 2008 that what they witnessed left people "gobsmacked".
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Broad said: "When the pictures came up on the big screen there were a lot of gobsmacked people in our side. Matt Prior was in a state of total shock, especially as his wife is pregnant."
An unnamed England player also said: "If that was my wife he'd put on his lap I would have wanted to punch him." However, while he apologised at the time, Stanford claimed the incident was "an innocent thing", offering up an apology to Prior and Pietersen in the following days.
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"When I saw these young ladies sitting there, the cameraman said it would be a great shot if I got in the middle of them," said Stanford. "I had no idea who they were. If I knew they were related in any way, shape or form to the English cricket team I would have said a polite hello and left.
"The cameraman said we had 30 seconds, so I said, 'Where am I going to sit?'. "This young girl got up and said, 'Here take my seat'. So I sat in the middle.
"We all said at the same time 'Go England' and put our hands up. The girl who was stood up plopped down on my knee. I didn't put her on my knee or sit here on my knee, she just plopped down.
"It was strictly an innocent thing. I apologised to Matt and to Kevin (Pietersen). They accepted my apology and I had no disrespect for them, the team or those young ladies. It was all meant to be fun."
- England Cricket Team
- Cricket
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