20 Most Evil Sports Stars

20 Most Evil Sports Stars

Welcome to WatchMojoUK, and today we’re looking at some of the most heinous athletes in UK sports history. For our criteria, they don’t have to be British, but they have to have been fairly involved in UK sports.

#20: Kurt Zouma

If you’re a fan of Chelsea, you probably remember Zouma, who played for the team from 2014 to 2021. His career took a nose-dive when, in 2022, footage was released of him mistreating his pet cat. Zouma apologised and tried to assure everyone that his cats were totally okay. This was followed up with an RSPCA investigation, which ended up taking both of his cats away. At the time, he was playing for West Ham United. They decided to fine the player roughly £250,000, which was donated to animal charities. He was eventually charged with animal cruelty and sentenced to 180 hours of community service.

#19: Luke McCormick

Originally born in Coventry, this footballer went on to play for a variety of teams. The one he stayed with the longest was Plymouth Argyle. His career was forced to take a massive pause after driving dangerously while under the influence in 2008. This tragically led to the deaths of two children because of his irresponsible decisions. For his evil decision, he was given a seven-year sentence. In the end, he got out early in 2012. After his release, he rejoined Plymouth Argyle and has since played for a handful of teams. Most recently, he plays for Plymouth Parkway.

#18: Lee Hughes

Our next footballer has played for a ton of teams over the years. He was never an A-list player, but had potential during the 90s. He lost almost all his momentum in 2003, when he made the vile decision of driving while drunk. Someone was fatally wounded in the subsequent accident. Hughes initially denied it, claiming that his brakes had broken. An investigation showed this was not the case. He’d also fled the scene of the crime as he was worried they’d find out how intoxicated he was. Hughes was given a six-year prison sentence, which ended in 2007.

#17: David Jenkins

Originally born in Trinidad and Tobago, he was later educated in Edinburgh. In his younger years, he was an acclaimed sprinter, peaking during the 70s. Some stats even claim he’s the best Scottish sprinter in history. Eventually, he turned to using performance-enhancing substances. Not only this, but he got involved in manufacturing and selling them in the United States. Apparently, he and his partner were responsible for approximately 70% of all the variety of substances they manufactured in America. After being caught and sentenced, he decided to become an informant, which got him out of prison in less than a year. Since then, he’s pursued some relatively successful business ventures.

#16: Derek Chisora

Chisora has been a relatively well-known name within boxing for quite a while now. According to BoxRec, he’s been in the world’s top 10 heavyweights for over a decade. Unfortunately, he’s unlikely to be a pleasant person. We believe this because in 2010, he was found guilty of physically harming his partner. He found messages on her phone from another man, and his following actions got him a conviction. Chisora didn’t spend any time in prison, though for his evil deeds, instead he was forced to pay £1,500 in compensation alongside doing 150 hours of community service. That’s not his only conviction or controversy; he’s also gotten in trouble for driving without a licence, among other things.

#15: Phil Banning

Once upon a time, Banning was a Welsh national coach and an athlete. It later turned out that he had used his position as a coach to commit horrific acts. His targets were trainee girls, all far younger than him. This led to him eventually being charged with 18 counts of indecent assault. These were all done during the 70s and 80s, but they only became public knowledge in 2017. After putting him on trial, he pleaded guilty, then he was given a seven-and-a-half-year jail sentence for his disgusting behaviour, alongside being put on the register for life.

#14: Chris Mason

This darts player has gotten into a ton of trouble during his life. Mason was first convicted of assault in 1990, which landed him a 180-hour community service sentence. Another two convictions relating to bodily harm followed, but didn’t land him serious jail time. In 2003, he tried to burgle a scaffolder, seriously beating him in the process. This was all motivated by some drama regarding a hostile dog. This got him a three-year sentence in 2003, but he only ended up serving for one year. Later on in 2010, he got in trouble once again for benefits fraud, after deciding not to declare 45 grand worth of winnings.

#13: Joey Barton

Next up is yet another footballer, who was huge back in the 2000s. Between 2002 and 2007, he played for Manchester City, then switched to Newcastle United. Outside of his professional career, he’s had an extremely controversial life. In 2007, he assaulted a fellow teammate during training. He also pleaded guilty to punching someone twenty times in Liverpool city centre the same year. Once in 2004, he horrifically used someone’s eyeball to put out a cigar. In 2021, he was charged again, this time for assaulting his wife. In March 2025, he was finally found guilty after a lengthy trial. This barely scratches the surface of his problematic past.

#12: Lee Murray

This Moroccan-English martial arts expert had his MMA career ended early in 2005. This was because he got into a brawl at Lauren Pope’s birthday party. He was brutally stabbed, nearly dying because of it. A year later, his controversies began. In 2006, he was arrested in Morocco after being involved in the 2006 Securitas depot robbery. In total, over 53 million pounds were stolen during this incident. He was placed in prison, from which he tried to escape in 2009. This was foiled after another inmate realised what he was doing. In the end, they found him guilty, and in 2010, he was given a 10-year prison sentence, which was later brought up to 25 years.

#11: Barry Bennell

There were enough people implicated in the 2016 football abuse scandal to make a list of only those individuals. Out of all of them, Barry Bennell is the most infamous. He used to be a coach, a position that he used to abuse tons of younger individuals. He was so horrific, in the court case, the judge called him the “devil incarnate.” These all happened between 1979 and 1991, but it only came out in 2016. In the end, he was jailed for 31 years starting in 2018. The old man didn’t make it through a third of this sentence. In 2023, he died aged 69 of cancer while still in prison.

#10: Ted Hankey

From being a championship-winning darts player to spending time in prison, Hankey had quite the fall from grace. In 2012, he, unfortunately, suffered a stroke on stage. From there, he struggled to make much of an income from darts. So, by 2018, Hankey was declared bankrupt. But it got worse. In 2022, he pled guilty to assault on a woman above 16 but under the age of 18. The incident was all caught on camera. The judge slated the darts player for his “entitlement.” Hankey was sentenced to two years in prison and was placed on the offender’s register for the next ten years. His wife began proceedings to divorce him in the aftermath.

#9: Naseem Hamed

In the 90s, Hamed was carrying the weight of UK boxing expectations on his shoulders. He was everywhere. Appearing on international talk shows and boxing all over the globe. Yet, in 2002, he walked away from the sport. Then, in 2005, Hamed was involved in a horrific car crash caused by his poor driving. When illegally overtaking a car to impress his passenger at 90 miles per hour, Hamed collided head-on with Anthony Burgin’s vehicle. The impact caused Burgin to break every major bone in his body. His wife also suffered injuries. Yet Hamed was uninjured. In 2006, Hamed was sentenced to 15 months in prison and was banned from driving for four years. This incident also stripped him of his MBE.

#8: Gavin Grant

Mostly playing in the lower division in England’s football league, Grant is a bit of a deep cut in the EFL’s history. He played for such teams as Bradford City, Millwall, and Wycombe Wanderers but only made sparse appearances. In 2007, Grant was cleared of the 2005 fatal shooting of Jahmall Moore as part of gang warfare. But in 2010, he found himself in court once again. This time, alongside two associates for their involvement in fatally shooting Leon Labastide in 2004. Grant was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison. His legal team has attempted to appeal the decision. However, the judge dismissed it as the evidence remained compelling.

#7: Steven van de Velde

Seen as a rising star in the beach volleyball scene, van de Velde was expected to represent the Netherlands in the Olympics at some point. However, it all came crashing down. In 2014, aged around 20 at the time, van de Velde had been in contact with a 12-year-old British girl he met on Facebook. Numerous times, he traveled from Amsterdam to assault her. When the allegations came out, van de Velde was extradited from the Netherlands to face charges in the UK. In 2016, after pleading guilty to three counts of assault, he was sentenced to prison for four years. After serving his time, van de Velde controversially resumed his professional beach volleyball career for the Netherlands.

#6: Marlon King

Playing international football for Jamaica and in the English Premier League, King was seemingly living the good life. But away from the pitch, he was a cauldron of anger that erupted several times. With many convictions, three of them led to serving time in prison. In 2002, he was sentenced to 18 months inside for receiving stolen goods. In 2009, he received another 18 months for punching a woman in the face and was also put on the offender’s register for seven years. Then, in 2014, he received another 18 months for dangerous driving when he ate ice cream and weaved in and out of traffic, leading to a three-car pile-up. One of the other drivers was in the hospital for three weeks.

#5: Eric Simpson

Sports coaches are meant to be one of the most trusted figures in an athlete’s life. They should be mentors helping get their students achieve their maximum potential. But sometimes, coaches fail in this in a big way. Simpson was an athletics coach in Fife, Scotland, who aided 15 British and two Paralympic champions. But between 1981 to 1999, he assaulted five girls. One of his victims, in 2018, saw a photo of Simpson posing with a young girl he was coaching. Looking to protect her and others, she went to the police and told them what he did. By 2021, Simpson was found guilty of seven charges. He was sentenced to eight years and placed on the offender’s register indefinitely.

#4: David Goodwillie

On top of representing Scotland internationally, Goodwillie played for some big clubs in the UK, including Blackburn Rovers, Aberdeen, and Dundee United. But off the pitch was another matter. Three times he’s been convicted for fighting. But in 2011, he and David Robertson were accused of assaulting a woman. While the case didn’t go to criminal court due to an apparent “lack of evidence,” the victim took civil action against the two in 2016. The judge stated they had assaulted her and ordered them both to pay her £100,000. Goodwillie continued his football career with Clyde. In 2022, he signed for Raith Rovers, which caused massive controversy as the women’s team and shirt sponsor, author Val McDermid, separated from Raith.

#3: Lauren Jeska

Jeska was enjoying her life as a fell runner by competing in major British races and becoming England’s champion on three occasions as a transwoman. However, in 2015, UK Athletics required a blood test from her to test her hormone levels as there was no documentation of her transition. Jeska feared this test would out her transgender status publicly and her record would be revoked. In 2016, Jeska walked into the office of UK Athletics and stabbed HR manager and former rugby professional Ralph Knibbs in the neck and head. Two other employees were also attacked. Whilst Knibbs survived, some of his nerves were severed, leading to multiple life-long problems. In 2017, Jeska was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

#2: Adam Johnson

Having represented England and played for clubs like Manchester City and Middlesbrough, Johnson was rebuilding his career at Sunderland. Yet, in 2015, he was arrested for lewd activity with a 15-year-old girl. Johnson had spoken to the girl, who was a fan of Sunderland, through social media and had met her several times. In 2016, Johnson was found guilty of grooming and inappropriate activity. He was sentenced to six years in prison. In 2017, a video came out of Johnson claiming to fellow inmates he only received a long sentence for being a pro footballer. He also made gross comments about his victim. In 2019, he was released from prison after serving half his sentence.

#1: Bertil Fox

For years, Fox, nicknamed “Brutal,” was the leading light in British bodybuilding. He regularly appeared in the biggest competitions in the world. But after retiring from the sport in 1992, his life unraveled rapidly. In 1997, whilst living in St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean, Fox’s former fiancée Leyoca Browne and her mother Violet Browne were fatally shot by the ex-bodybuilder at Violet’s shop. Fox was quickly arrested without bail. In 1998, he was found guilty of slaying the two women and was sentenced to be executed. However, after an appeal, the sentence was changed to 25 years in prison. In 2022, Fox was pardoned by the Governor General of St. Kitts and Nevi and was released from jail.

Who do you think is the most unethical athlete in British sports history? Let us know in the comments below!