Ugandan Rugby Player Jailed for Rape in Cardiff.

A Ugandan rugby player who sought asylum in Wales has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for raping a woman in Cardiff.

Philip Pariyo, 32, was found guilty of the offence in December 2024 after repeatedly denying the allegations. Cardiff Crown Court heard that he had developed a close friendship with the victim before attacking her in a flat in June 2021.

During sentencing, an impact statement from the victim was read to the court, describing the lasting emotional and physical trauma she suffered. She expressed the deep scars left by the attack, stating:

“No one in the world should go through what I did, fighting and begging for my life. It has left lasting impacts on me, and has felt like an open wound that I can never heal from.”

She also highlighted how the incident made her feel “dirty, numb, and tainted,” and emphasized the horror of having to fight for something as basic as consent.

Pariyo first arrived in the UK in 2014 as part of Uganda’s Rugby Sevens team for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. However, he and another teammate disappeared after the tournament. By 2015, it was revealed that Pariyo had relocated to Cardiff, where he claimed asylum.

His asylum application was reportedly based on fears of persecution in Uganda due to accusations of homosexuality. In Uganda, homosexuality is illegal, and Pariyo argued that returning to his home country would put him in danger.

Since settling in Cardiff, he played for St Peter’s Rugby Club in Roath before taking up a job in waste management with Cardiff Council. St Peter’s Rugby Club later confirmed that he had not played for them for at least nine years.

In a letter addressed to Judge Celia Hughes, Pariyo expressed remorse, stating that he was “genuinely sorry to those who suffered from [his] actions.” However, his plea for leniency did not prevent the court from imposing the four-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

His conviction and sentencing bring an end to a case that has deeply impacted the victim, who continues to struggle with the psychological scars of the attack.

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