Ryan Giggs Trial - Wales - Gary Speed & Chris Coleman

And tonight Ryan Giggs, currently Wales official manager has resigned with immediate effect

Ryan Giggs: Ex-Man Utd and Wales star headbutted ex-girlfriend - court

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Ex-Manchester Utd and Wales star Ryan Giggs "deliberately headbutted" his ex-girlfriend, a court has heard.

Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, told the court Mr Giggs' private life involved a "litany of abuse, both physical and psychological".

Mr Giggs, 48, denies a charge of coercive behaviour and assaulting his ex-girlfriend and her sister.

His defence counsel said the case against him was based on "distortion, exaggeration and lies".

Mr Giggs is charged with controlling and coercive behaviour against his ex-girlfriend Kate Greville, 36, between August 2017 and November 2020.

He is also charged with assaulting Ms Greville, causing her actual bodily harm, and common assault of her younger sister, Emma Greville, at his home in Worsley, Greater Manchester, on 1 November 2020.

Opening his case against Mr Giggs at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, Mr Wright said this was a story of "control and coercion" of a woman who thought she was "loved and respected".

He said his relationship with Ms Greville, 36, was "punctuated by acts of violence and volatility".

He added Mr Giggs was "idolised" for his skills on the pitch but behind closed doors had "a much uglier and more sinister side to his character".

He told the jury they will hear the relationship had "ups and downs" and that Mr Giggs was seeing someone else when he was with Ms Greville.

"Eventually, after years of turbulence, when the scales fell from her eyes, she realised she needed to remove herself from his sphere of influence," he said.

Mr Wright said this decision to break away led to the incident on 1 November 2020.

Mr Giggs is said to have "lost control" that evening and headbutted Ms Greville.

While both out with friends at Manchester's Stock Exchange Hotel, Ms Greville decided to terminate their relationship, said Mr Wright.

He added Ms Greville knew Mr Giggs had "once again" been cheating on her, and informed her sister of her plan to end the relationship before leaving the hotel.

"She intended to make her departure before [Mr Giggs] got back from the hotel. The plan did not work.

"As she was vacating the defendant's home address, he came back and began arguing with her and trying to stop her leaving."

In the altercation that followed, in which Ms Greville took Mr Giggs phone as a "bargaining chip", they grappled together on the floor before Ms Greville's sister stepped in, the court heard.

Mr Wright said Emma Greville then tried to pull Mr Giggs off her sister, but he "deliberately elbowed her in the jaw", before the argument moved to the kitchen.

"At that stage, we say, the defendant entirely lost self-control and he deliberately headbutted Kate, thereby causing swelling to her lips and bruising. Emma then called the police, who attended the premises."

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Mr Giggs' defence team challenged the prosecution's version of events.

Addressing the jury, Chris Daw QC for the defence said on a "moral level" his behaviour was "far from perfect".

He told the jury some of his messages and emails were "marked by immaturity and inappropriate language", but this was the case for both him and Ms Greville.

"They behaved like squabbling children, playing on the insecurities of the other."

But, Mr Daw said "no matter how rude, unpleasant and mean" they were, there were "lines Mr Giggs would never cross".

"He never once used unlawful violence against Ms Greville," he said, adding that the case against him was based on "distortion, exaggeration and lies."

He said it was "clear" Ms Greville's injuries were not consistent with a head butt from "a strong and physically fit man".

Referring to the incident on 1 November 2020, Mr Daw said Mr Giggs and Ms Greville both tripped and fell to the floor in the kitchen of his home and that she kicked him in the face as he tried to disentangle himself.

Mr Daw added Mr Giggs was not aware the complainant's sister was in the house at the time and did not elbow her, as alleged.

The alleged headbutt was "not only a nasty lie but a ridiculous one," he said, as evidence in the trial will show there was "minor and accidental contact" between their faces.

Mr Daw said in the weeks before, Ms Greville told friends she was determined not to walk away from the relationship with nothing.

He added Mr Giggs had encouraged Ms Greville's career ambitions in PR, backed her with his own company, and introduced clients.

She was always financially independent, free to travel and see her friends as much as she wanted, he told the court.

"Both could be childish," he said. On nights out, they would often block each other's numbers.

"Immaturity is not a crime," he added, and when it comes to law and morality, "law is what matters".

Mr Wright, QC for the prosecution, also told the jury the abuse from Mr Giggs was "interspersed with acts of kindness and contrition".

He said Mr Giggs would say she had misunderstood him, had jumped to the wrong conclusion and that he was the victim.

"We say this was controlling and coercive behaviour," he added.

"This was a behaviour to gaslight her, and make her pliant and compliant."

He said the behaviour was "calculated", and was "conduct that would have an obvious and serious effect on her emotionally and physically".

Standing in the dock, wearing a dark grey suit, Mr Giggs listened to the opening statements and watched as the jury of seven women and five men was selected and sworn in for the trial.

The jury was told witnesses in the case will include former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and former player Gary Neville.

The trial - expected to last around 10 days - will relocate to Manchester Crown Court from Tuesday and remain there for the duration.

Mr Giggs has denied all charges - the trial continues.

Ryan Giggs: It's time for him to pay the price, prosecution tells jury.

The truth has caught up to Ryan Giggs and it's time for him to "pay the price", a jury has been told.

The former Manchester United star, 48, denies controlling behaviour, as well as assaulting ex-girlfriend Kate Greville, 38, in November 2020.

He also denies assaulting her younger sister Emma, 26.

Prosecutor Peter Wright QC said Mr Gigg's actions told a story of "emotional manipulation, physical excess and control and coercion".

In his closing speech at Manchester Crown Court Mr Wright reminded the jury of the 999 call made by Mrs Greville's sister Emma following the alleged assault.

Mr Wright described the call - in which Mr Giggs can be heard in the background saying Ms Greville caused the incident - as a "microcosm of the entire case".

He said the call was made within moments of the incident having taken place.

"What a remark, said Mr Wright. "Not, it was an accident, I didn't mean it."

He went on to say that this is a case about what Ryan Giggs is not known for, "what lies beneath the surface of…his character."

"It's about the abuse of power," Mr Wright told the jury at Manchester Crown Court on the 11th day of the trial.

Speaking out for Kate Greville had been "cathartic", he said, and he asked the jury to consider how she responded when various matters were put to her, irrespective of the "deeply embarrassing" material she was being asked to consider.

The barrister asked them, was this a woman who was "scheming" or a woman who was "now empowered" and able to "speak out?"

Mr Wright went on to ask the jury to consider why Mr Giggs did not have answers to so many questions. The answer, he said, was that he had "no sensible explanation to give."

"The truth was so damaging and so telling…that the "only alternative" was of "not giving an explanation."

Mr Wright said that Mr Giggs was the "living embodiment" of the contradictions in the case, from "hate-filled outburst of bile" to the very same woman he had, "sometimes only moments earlier" professed to "love in perpetuity."

Reminding the jury about emails in which he calls Ms Greville by a deeply unpleasant name, Mr Wright said this is what Mr Giggs, a "polite paragon of public behaviour" was capable of.

"Even now he can't explain why he sent it," he said, because, to do so would "reveal the coercive and controlling nature of his conduct."

Mr Wright then invited the jury to "compare and contrast" the "calm and cooperative Ryan Giggs" on dealing with the police at his house on 1 November 2020 with what they heard in the 999 call.

Earlier, Judge Hilary Manley told the jury they had to decide the case on the evidence and that they must decide "whether a witness was a truthful witness". If there were "inaccuracies" they must consider if they matter "in the overall context of the case", she said.

Judge Manley went on to say that both Kate Greville and former Wales manager Mr Giggs became distressed while giving their evidence., but she said they must "..put aside any sympathy".

She reminded them that she told them at the start of the case that they must put aside any emotion, and she said they must "continue that way."

The trial continues.

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Quite shocked at that outcome, What seemed to be damming evidence,goes to show that all is not what it seems according to the press reports

Yes. I’ve only followed it as in reading reports but it appears that the case the CPS made was not accepted by the jury and they couldn’t agree on a Guilty or Not Guilty verdict. I’m presuming that the prosecution has to make its case and failed to do so on this occasion. Whatever, as you say what a colossal waste of money and another example of the CPS falling short.

The judge set a new trial date of 31 July next year at a short hearing on Wednesday at Manchester Crown Court. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62806864
Doesn't the CPS have better things to do? Particularly with a massive backlog in the criminal justice system. Without wishing to pass judgement this looks like a "not enough evidence to convict" and the same result, or possibly even a "not guilty" will result. I'm not a fan of Giggs, but to have this hang over him for another year seems a tad unfair.