GhLinks Media
Former St Helens and Wigan Warriors star, Ricky Bibey has been found dead in a £350-a-night Italy hotel room alongside a seriously injured woman.
Ricky Bibey died while on holiday, one of his former clubs has said.
Cops were called out to their Florence first floor room on Saturday after staff found the former England prop-forward’s body lying on the floor.
Here is what we know
Arrival at the Hotel
Ricky Bibey is understood to have arrived in the picturesque city with a woman on Friday night and they arrived back at the Hotel Continentale ‘in high spirits’ at 2am on Saturday.
Noises from hotel room
A source at the hotel said: ‘Noises had been heard coming from the room and then a chamber maid saw the woman emerge half naked, with blood on her and screaming for help.
‘That’s when the alarm was raised and the police and paramedics were called. The man was on the floor and despite attempts to save him he was declared dead at the scene.’
Who is the woman involved?
Currently, identity of the woman has not been revealed she is believed to be his partner.
At the moment, she being treated at the city’s Careggi hospital after being found alongside him with serious injuries.
An insider said: ‘She is recovering but is still sedated so we are waiting for the go ahead from medical staff at the hospital.
‘She has not been arrested and it will not be a formal questioning it’s more a question of trying to understand what happened in the room.
Cause of death
A police source is reported to have said “
The people involved are both British and at the moment we are working on two theories an erotic game that went wrong or some sort of domestic argument, but the general direction is that of an erotic game.
‘The man was found with a series of cuts, bruises and other injuries on his body and so was the woman, although she was more seriously hurt and the man appears to have had some sort of seizure.
‘The hope was for an autopsy to be carried out on the man sometime today but that will now happen on Monday.
‘That will establish levels of alcohol and if any drugs were present but at this moment all we know for certain is that no third party was involved. We are satisfied of that.’
So far, cause of death has not been revealed.
Ricky Bibey’s career in brief
Bibey, who was born in Leigh, Greater Manchester, made his name playing for Wigan Warriors in 2001.
Over a career spanning a decade, Bibey would go on to play for Leigh Centurions, St Helens and Wakefield Trinity.
He also won the Challenge Cup twice.
Bibey is reported to have worked as an estate agent in the years following his retirement, and had previously run a development company.
