Dad who left ex for Ukrainian refugee releases rap as she slaps restraining order on him

15 July 2022, 06:56 | Updated: 15 July 2022, 07:16

A British dad who left his partner for a Ukrainian refugee has told LBC he "was not thinking with what's between my legs" when he left his family.

Tony Garnett, 29, who ran off with 22-year-old Sofiia Karkadym said he "wanted to take care of Sofiia because I know I can".

It comes as Mr Garnett today released a rap song to "get the truth across" about his relationship with Ms Karkadym after he was slapped with a restraining order by his former partner Lorna, 28.

"What kind of man leaves a relationship after ten days if there weren’t problems there already," he said, adding "I've done the right thing by moving in with Sofiia".

Mr Garnett said he wanted to tell the full story because "I don't appreciate Sofiia getting messages saying Russia's going to kill your family or threats that we're going to do a petition to deport you."

Tony Garnett - Ukraine to UK Rain

"I live life to the fullest. I live with no regrets. I'm now with a blonde, but yet my ex was a brunette," one of the lyrics goes.

Another says: "Should I have stayed there just to be with my kids? No thank you, not today. You see my mental state forbids."

He told LBC "I can do a lot better" and said he plans to write more songs "professionally" including tracks about the war in Ukraine.

When I’m seeing these videos, I’m in tears and I feel sad. It's horrendous what’s going on and people need to open their eyes."

This week Mr Garnett was ordered not to approach his former partner Lorna, 28, after she alleged he sent her abusive texts, The Sun reported.

Mr Garnett has also been told not to go within 100 metres of the home they lived in with their two children in Bradford and been barred from phoning, texting or emailing Ms Garnett as well as contacting her on social media.

Ms Karkadym moved in with the couple earlier this year after they offered to sponsor her stay in the UK following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

But 10 days after she arrived, the 22-year-old, originally from Kyiv, and Mr Garnett ran off together.

Mr Garnett has now claimed he knew Sofiia for four months before the pair became a couple.

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Mr Garnett said he started rapping as a teenager with "people begging me to carry on".

He said he wrote the track "in an hour" and "could have gone on for pages and pages" but limited himself to "the key things that I think people need to understand.”

“There’s a lot of things I want to discuss in my music, I’m looking at how I would go about recording it professionally," he added.

Asked about his rap inspiration, Mr Garnett said wants to emanate artists who tell stories through their music.

"I don’t like gangsta rap, I like explaining a story and getting a passionate story across", he said, adding: "Most artists are really bad and most songs are auto-tuned."

He named American rappers Hopsin and NF has inspirations, saying of Hopsin: “I like him because of the style he does, he doesn’t do a normal song, he shows a video or a story and most are about real issues that he’s dealt with”

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Ms Karkadym has insisted she is "not a homewrecker" and that she never planned to "take" Mr Garnett from his partner.

In a previous interview with The Sun she said: "I never thought or planned to go into their home and take Tony from Lorna."

She added she believed the couple's relationship was in jeopardy before she arrived in the UK, and said nothing happened until they left their home.

Mr Garnett also defended moving out with Ms Karkadym and into a rented house in Bradford. She has since gone partially blind and he is caring for her.

He told Metro: "People are painting her as a villain who has come to the UK and stolen a British man.

"Nothing could be further from the truth. It was a mutual decision.

"It wasn't as if we had met each other and decided then and there to move out. I was leaving regardless, because I'd had enough of Lorna."

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Lorna told MailOnline: "Under the terms of the court order I'm not allowed to discuss him on social media, but the things in that song which are obviously about me are complete lies.

"He's broken the court order already by releasing this and I've contacted my solicitor and the police as a result. The solicitor confirmed that it's a breach of the order."