Liverpool Gaucho’s now former restaurant director was sentenced to three years in prison this week for a domestic attack
19:10, 23 May 2026
Former Liverpool Gaucho restaurant director Dimitri Prassinos pictured with former LFC boss Jurgen Klopp
His tightly fitted suits, sharp haircut and charm led him to look after some of Liverpool’s biggest stars. But that was nothing more than a façade that masked a monstrous temper that erupted in the most devastating fashion in a drunken assault on his terrified ex-partner.
Dimitri Prassinos was one of the most recognised faces in Liverpool’s hospitality scene, with an enviable CV which included giants of the city’s restaurant and hotel scene. His career had previously taken him around the UK and included work with sporting and events big stars.
But Liverpool Crown Court heard this week how the 41-year-old launched a devastating assault on his ex-partner and mum of two of his children, Lydia Itiokiet, to the point where she believed she was going to die. The bully then threatened Ms Itiokiet’s oldest son, born from a different relationship, telling him “he was a dead man walking”.
At the time of the attack and indeed at his sentencing Prassinos was working at the premium Gaucho steakhouse on Water Street in Liverpool’s city centre. In fact he was promoted from general manager to the restaurant’s director in March last year – three months after he carried out the assault.
The Argentinian chain, which specialises in steak, fine wines and cocktails, has a number of restaurants in prime locations around the country, while the Liverpool restaurant – a beautifully restored grade II-listed building – has served as a prominent filming location for major TV productions, most notably the hit BBC crime thriller series This City is Ours.
Prassinos was described in court as a “hardworking man” and “well-respected” in his work, with responsibility for a team of 80 people. After being promoted to the top job at the restaurant, he posted on his Linkedin: “A very proud moment for myself, it’s been a fantastic journey so far…Last but not least my amazing team at Gaucho Liverpool, I could not of (sic) done it without use (sic) all”.
Before moving to Gaucho he played a role in the award-winning Chinese fusion restaurant Lu Ban, working as the general manager for a year and a half. His role at Lu Ban saw him feature in a Come Dine With Me: The Professionals programme on Channel 4.
He also worked at the Titanic Hotel as its restaurant manager, Gusto Italian and the San Carlo Restaurant, as well as at Ascot Racecourse and Manchester City’s Etihad stadium.
Filming for This City is Ours at Gaucho steak restaurant in August 2024(Image: Liverpool Echo)
His work saw him meet some of Liverpool’s most famous faces. Prassinos’ personal Facebook page shows him posing with former Reds’ boss Jurgen Klopp, while in a second photo he grins and puts his thumb up to the camera next to Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott.
But that career built over a decade and a half came tumbling down on Tuesday following his appearance in court.
Prassinos’ lawyer said Gaucho was aware of his appearance in court and a senior member of the company had attended with him and was waiting outside. “He will keep his employment despite the convictions,” said Isabelle Haddad, defending.
That apparent decision was heavily criticised by ECHO readers who were staggered to read that a woman beater was in line to retain his employment.
But Gaucho later confirmed to the ECHO that Prassinos had been sacked from his job. A spokesperson for the restaurant chain said on Wednesday: “Gaucho can confirm the individual’s employment was terminated with immediate effect on sentencing.”
The devastating attack on Ms Itiokiet was brutal and sustained. It left her on the verge of unconsciousness and severely bruised and bloodied. Ms Haddad said her client’s anger issues stemmed from “childhood trauma” that had been “bottled up” after the sudden deaths of two of his siblings.
She added: “It is clear the deaths of two siblings left him with difficulty to regulate his emotions…He has not buried his head in the sand or sought to minimise. He is trying to turn himself around.” This included anger management courses and counselling sessions, the court heard.
No one described the damage inflicted better than Ms Itiokiet herself, whose victim impact statement detailed the immediate and ongoing impact.
The statement, read to the court on her behalf because she was too upset to attend, said: “As the assault only happened days before Christmas, what was supposed to be a happy period was awful. The bruising to my face was so bad I could not go out of the house.”
The court heard the victim’s daughter had told school that “daddy has made mummy look like a monster”.
Lu Ban’s general manager Dimitri Prassinos featured in a Channel 4 documentary(Image: Channel 4)
Ms Itiokiet said she continued to have flashbacks to the moment she was strangled and replayed the attack in her head. She added she struggled to sleep and get motivated and no longer was in employment after a medical assessment determined she was not fit to work.
Ms Itiokiet said she could not settle in her house and “was constantly moving furniture to feel comfortable”. She added: “I can’t even be in Liverpool anymore and spent time out of Merseyside with family to avoid the area.” She is hopeful of being rehoused so she can “start over and rebuild a family home,” the court heard.
Suzanne Payne, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that Ms Itiokiet and the defendant had been in a relationship for around a decade and a half, but had not been together for the past four years. The pair had two children together, now aged 12 and five, while the victim also had a 16-year-old son from a previous relationship.
The court heard on December 8, 2024 the victim was at home with her two younger children when the defendant called at around 11.20pm. Ms Payne said Prassinos was drunk and was demanding to see his children, despite him pre-arranging to see them the following day.
He drunkenly told her he deserved a drink because he worked 70 hour weeks, before bombarding her with further calls. When he turned up at her house he abused her and called her a “daddy’s princess”, before accusing her of sleeping with other men and repeatedly using a racial slur.
Ms Itiokiet told him to get out of her house, prompting the thug to strike her to the right side of her face. The court heard he knocked her to the floor and, when she tried to scramble to pick up her phone to call for help, repeatedly stamped on her hands and arms.
Ms Payne said the defendant then got on top of his victim, putting “both hands around her throat, his thumbs pressing into the back of her neck and his fingers pushing into her windpipe”. He then said “I’m going to choke you out”.
The victim said she did not know how long he was on top of her but she believed she may have briefly lost consciousness. “She believed she was going to die”, Ms Payne said.
The court heard Ms Itiokiet managed to fight back and threw several punches, eventually managing to break free and stand up. She felt dizzy and was gasping for breath, Ms Payne said, and “there was blood everywhere”.
Dimitri Prassinos, restaurant director at Gaucho, was jailed for attacking his ex-partner(Image: Merseyside Police)
She again told Prassinos to get out of her house, but all the bully replied was “my glasses, my glasses” after they had been knocked to the ground in the struggle. Ms Itiokiet threw the glasses to the defendant who, after seeing her face, was “shocked”, said Ms Payne. The victim called her mum who came to collect her children.
Ms Itiokiet’s oldest son also came home and called Prassinos and questioned: “What have you done to my mum?” Prassinos responded: “Who do you think you are? Some big man? You are a dead man walking.”
The victim went for treatment at the Royal. She suffered bruising and swelling around her face and at the back of her neck and found it sore to swallow. Ms Payne said Ms Itiokiet had described her feelings that she thought she was going to die and said “if she was killed then her children would have seen her lying on the floor”.
Judge David Potter told the dad, who has two other children with a different woman: “In sentencing you I must have regard to the effect on Lydia herself. She was shocked and embarrassed by the extent of her swollen and bruised face. She has had flashbacks to the moment you strangled her and is no longer fit for work.
“She felt unsafe in her own home and she awaits being rehoused. She has remained on medication, she has issues with her sleep…on any view these events would have left their psychological scars and will continue to do so for the future.”
Prassinos, most recently of Tweed Close in Kensington, pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was sentenced to an immediate three years in prison for the attack and made subject to restraining orders against Ms Itiokiet and her son for a period of seven years.
He will spend the next year and a half contemplating how his own actions landed him in prison and destroyed his career.