Former VP of £1bn steel firm Outokumpu UK punched and dragged partner across floor of Sheffield home

Ian Holdsworth, of Chesterfield Road, once held one of top jobs for the UK operations of stainless steel giant Outokumpu.

But at Sheffield Magistrates Court today, the 54-year-old was told to expect prison time after he was found guilty of punching his former partner in the face, stamping on her foot and dragging her across the floor of his home.

The victim told District Judge Marcus Waite how, despite a fierce argument at city centre restaurant Guyshi’s earlier that evening, she was “enticed” to Holdsworth’s home in the early hours of May 20, 2023, after he texted he would “leave her car running in the garage and throw her stuff on the lawn.”

She claimed when she arrived, she found Holdsworth had been “smoking crack” and was “erratic and scary.”

She said: “He was rambling incoherently and shouting. He threw my phone off the balcony and locked all the doors.

“He grabbed and pulled me by my hair... He dragged me off the sofa and from the living room to the kitchen by my ankles... He punched me in the face, which made my nose bleed. I remember holding a tea towel covered in blood, and he was shouting ‘I haven’t done that, I haven’t done that, stop lying’... I told him he had, and he stamped on my foot and told me to ‘stop lying’.”

Holdsworth’s victim told the court she found a key to the back door and escaped to her mother’s house. She claims she doesn’t remember how she got there, but may “have driven there.”

She filed a report with the police three months later in August 2023.

In his defence, Holdsworth claimed he never wanted to see his partner that night, that she was “drunk,” that she “banged her head against the floor” while they were arguing, and he “cared for her and cleaned her up, because she was like a zombie.” The victim denied all of this.

Further, Holdsworth’s defence counsel, Miss Hale, suggested on her client’s behalf during cross examination that “it was actually you [the victim] that was abusing crack cocaine”, that she “jumped a fence to get in” and hadn’t “told the truth.” The victim rejected the suggestions.

Photos reportedly taken by the victim’s mother showed how Holdsworth’s partner suffered severe bruises to her back, eye and foot.

Miss Hale then asked the woman: “Do you have experience putting make up on for TV and film effects?”

“Yes,” said the victim. “What are you suggesting?”

“Is it being suggested,” Judge Waite cut in. “That what’s in those pictures is, in fact, make up?”

“Mr Holdsworth’s case is simply that he didn’t cause those injuries,” said Miss Hale.

However, Miss Hale was invited by Judge Waite to speak with her client about this line of questioning. When she returned, the defence counsel said: “Thank you, judge - I’m going to move on,” and dropped the suggestion.

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Holdsworth was arrested on August 12, 2023, and later pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

However, Judge Waite said at court this week: “I am certain that the defendant is guilty as charged.

“[The victim] gave evidence in a manner that was, in my judgement, measured and credible.

“Whether Mr Holdsworth cannot remember or is simply incorrect in his recounting of events, I cannot say. But I am sure that [she] is telling the truth of the night in question.

“It was suggested that, at one point, the defence’s case included that the pictures provided did not show injuries but, in fact, showed make up. Thankfully, that suggestion was dropped.”

Holdsworth was released on bail and will be sentenced on October 1 at Sheffield Magistrates Court. He was told the offence can “only result in an immediate custodial sentence.”

Holdsworth was formerly the managing director and then the vice president of Outokumpu’s UK & MENA operations. The renewable steel firm operates a distribution centre in Tinsley, Sheffield.