Derby player shares bloodied image of girlfriend after attack on night out

Derby County player Louie Sibley has posted distressing images of his girlfriend following what he says was an unprovoked attack on her during on a night out.

On Sunday night the 20-year-old posted on his open Twitter profile to share pictures and write a lengthy statement. The most striking image is of his partner, whose nose and mouth are both badly bloodied. Sibley also posted CCTV images that appear to show a man raising his hand near a group of girls although the footage is grainy.

Writing on Twitter, Sibley said: "Early hours in the morning at 2am in Nottingham on Upper Parliament Street my girlfriend was attacked several times by a man and woman.

"She ended up in hospital and had to have stitches due to the man who punched her and knocked her out, leaving her unconscious. This coward of a man attacked such an innocent girl. He even dragged her to the ground prior to the hit and slammed her up the wall.

"After doing that, when she wasn't looking he then smacked her, leaving her unconscious. The women he was with was continually attempting to assault her, even attacking her when the man dragged her to the floor. The man and the women ran off after leaving her unconscious. This was an unprovoked attack, which was recorded and is now under police investigations. Both of them need to be found! How can a grown man attack a girl like this and get away with it. Please share this and if anyone has any information it would be much appreciated. Let's make sure this doesn't happen again."

Chief Inspector Amy English, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "We are currently investigating reports of an incident in which a woman was allegedly assaulted in Nottingham city centre.

"This is understood to have taken place at 2.08am on Sunday (12 June) in Upper Parliament Street. Nottinghamshire Police strongly condemns all acts of violence, so it's extremely important that anyone who witnessed what happened gets in touch with us immediately so that we can establish exactly what happened. Enquiries are still ongoing into this incident, so please contact the police on 101, quoting incident 86 of 12 June 2022, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, if you have any information."

Sibley featured 28 times for Wayne Rooney's side last season as they endured a horror campaign which included transfer embargoes, points deductions and spending almost the entire term in administration. The midfielder is one of just a handful of players contracted to the Rams beyond this summer, amid plenty of uncertainty. American businessman Chris Kirchner saw his final deadline to purchase the club come and go on Friday evening but over the weekend he maintained his determination to get a deal done.

In reality there is an extremely slim chance of that now happening, with the EFL now stepping in saying they will "now be made a party to all correspondence and discussions between the administrators, and any and all potential bidders."

Chief executive Trevor Birch added: "Following this latest setback for the club and its fans, it is vitally important that a sale of the club is concluded at the earliest opportunity and we want to ensure that this objective is achieved.

"Up until now we have provided the administrators with the time and opportunity to manage the sale process but with the long stop date on the asset purchase agreement and the membership agreement now passed, further urgent proactive action is required in order to do whatever is possible to secure the club's future as a continuing member of the EFL."