Former British snooker champion Graeme Dott, who won the 2006 World Snooker Championship, was sentenced to seven years in prison on Tuesday for sexually abusing two minors for different periods, according to a court ruling in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Dott, 49, abused a girl between 1993 and 1996, and subsequently a boy between 2006 and 2010. In communicating the verdict, the judge pointed out the seriousness of the facts and the impact they had on the victims.
The judge said the former sportsman had “stolen the whistleblowers an important part of his childhood” and that his actions represented “a serious violation of his trust.”
The former snooker world champion was given 7 years for child sexual abuse pic.twitter.com/oNhOWTBY9Y
During the trial, the first victim, who is currently 40 years old, various episodes of inappropriate sexual behavior by Dott. She also explained that the experiences left her “shocked and scared.”
The woman noted that she still remembers details associated with those encounters and the effect they had on her.
In the second case, the victim stated that Dott incurred inappropriate touching on different occasions. According to his testimony, the ex-player also gave him food, drinks and money as a “reward.”
The case of the first victim had come to the attention of the police in 2001.
The woman again denounced him last year, which gave way to new actions that culminated in the judicial process and the conviction announced in Edinburgh.
Dott was one of the leading figures of British snooker during his professional career. In 2006 he won the World Championship, played at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, and also reached the final in two other occasions, in 2004 and 2010.
After being accused, his name was removed from the World Snooker Hall of Fame.
The sentence of seven years in prison represents a new judicial chapter in the case of the former champion, whose sports career was marked by the resolution of the facts denounced by the two victims.
