Ryan Giggs trial - live: Footballer admits he’s never been faithful but denies assault
The court heard the former Wales coach threatened to attack his ex-girlfriend’s sister
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Ex-Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs admitted that he has never been faithful in a relationship.
Taking the stand for the first time in the trial, Mr Giggs said his reputation as a “love-cheat” is justified.
It comes as Mr Giggs said the alleged headbutt of his ex-girlfriend was the pair clashing heads during a scuffle over a phone.
Kate Greville, Mr Giggs’ ex-girlfriend, accused the former footballer of headbutting her and assaulting her younger sister, Emma Greville, during an incident at the defendant's home in Worsley, Greater Manchester, on 1 November 2020.
Mr Giggs said in a statement to Manchester police following the incident: “I accept during this scuffle my head clashed with hers (Kate).
“I am not sure if it was the face or head but I am sure it was not deliberate.”
The court heard that Mr Giggls threatened Ms Greville’s sister saying “I’ll headbutt you next,” moments after the alleged assault
Mr Giggs denies the allegations against him.
Goodbye
Court proceedings have ended for the day. Join The Independent tomorrow for as Ryan Giggs gives evidence on day 8.
Ryan Giggs: ‘Blackmail message was just a joke,’ court hears
Ryan Giggs is asked about a message he sent to Kate Greville which said: “Please unblock me. All this blocking malarkey is poo. Promise, no more naked piccies.”
Mr Giggs admitted to sending naked pictures of himself to Ms Greville. He added that they had also shared intimate videos with each other.
Mr Giggs is also asked about an email he sent to Ms Greville with an attachment and the subject header of “blackmail”. The court has previously heard the attachment was a video of Ms Greville dancing to Last Christmas.
Mr Giggs tells the court: “It was just a joke between me and Kate.
“Kate was dancing embarrassingly that was out of her nature, acting silly at a Christmas party,” he told the court.
“It was at a work event when she lived in Abu Dhabi.”
Asked if the email was “anything insidious”, Giggs says: “No, it was a joke.”
Asked if he ever shared any of his private videos with Ms Greville with anyone else, he replies: “Never.”
Ryan Giggs claims ex was ‘agitated’ at him messaging daughter, court hears
Ryan Giggs said Kate Greville was “agitated” about him messaging his daughter prompting an argument in a restaurant in Dubai in 2018.
“Kate would choose where we ate in Dubai - she'd promoted a lot of them,” Mr Giggs said.
“It was a restaurant she really wanted to go to and we ended up going for a meal that night.
“We sat down, we ordered the starters and I then received a message off my daughter - she had hurt her knee playing netball.”
He said this caused Ms Greville to get “agitated”.
He added: “I just let Kate know that it was I was messaging my daughter, I’m trying to sort some physio out, trying to get hold of a doctor to sort it out.”
Asked if having explained to Ms Greville the situation the then “calmed down”, Mr Giggs said: “No. She still wasn’t happy.”
Kate Greville earned £100,000 salary in Ryan Giggs’ company
Ryan Giggs is now discussing Kate Greville’s return to the UK from Abu Dhabi in 2018 where she joined his and Gary Neville’s company as the head of PR.
“Kate wasn’t really enjoying the work in Abu Dhabi, she felt a little bit lonely so she wanted to come back to the UK,” Mr Giggs told the court.
“I supported the move after having a long relationship where we didn’t see each other all the time. I welcomed her coming back
“There were other women in my life while Kate was away but didn’t tell her,” Mr Giggs admitted.
Mr Giggs said Ms Greville’s role involved stirring up interest in the media regarding the different businesses, organising interviews and trying to promote the companies.
Mr Giggs said Ms Greville was good at her job and other people in the company thought so also.
“I thought she was amazing at her job,” Ms Greville said. “She knew about the various businesses and where we wanted to take the company. She was excited for the challenge.”
Mr Giggs said Ms Greville was paid around £100,000 a year in the role.
Ryan Giggs: 'I told her to stay somewhere else'
The court is hearing Ryan Giggs retell the first alleged assault on Kate Greville at a hotel in Dubai in 2017.
Mr Giggs has denied any physical assault or kicking her into the hotel corridor naked.
“We finished the futsal tournament that evening and everyone involved in the tournament went to a club,” Mr Giggs said of the incident.
“My agent, someone else from the agency, Kate Harvey myself and Kate [Greville] were at the club.
“We were having a good time in the club, lots of dancing and just socialising with each other - it was good between me and Kate.
“It was the ideal scenario to see her while I was working.
Chris Daw QC asked: “How did things take a turn for the worst?”
Mr Giggs responded: “During the night I received a message from my daughter and I was replying to my daughter in the club.
“There were a couple of messages that went back and forth between me and my daughter, I could feel Kate looking over and wondering who I was messaging.
“I just got a bit irritated because she was making it quite obvious she was peering over my shoulder.”
Mr Giggs said he then left the club and stormed back to the hotel because Ms Greville didn’t believe him.
“She came back into the room, we started arguing. I said ‘You’re accusing me of messaging someone when it’s my daughter.’”
Mr Giggs said there was no physical element to the argument but said he told Ms Greville that she would need to find somewhere else to stay the night and began packing her suitcase to which she tried to stop him.
Mr Giggs said the pair then calmed down and slept in the same bed that night where they had “rough sex” which was a usual occurrence in the relationship.
Ryan Giggs said he tried to dissuade Kate Greville from moving to Adbu Dhabi
Ryan said he tried to dissuade Kate Greville from leaving the UK to go to Abu Dhabi when the news of the affair leaked in summer 2016.
Mr Giggs said he wanted her to stay because he loved her.
“By this time I was leaving Man United as assistant manager which I'd been for two years. I had a chance to travel through work, then we just decided we'd make it work.
After she went to Abu Dhabi, Mr Giggs said he saw Ms Greville “a lot” during the period she was there.
“On the way back from India playing futsal I would stop off in Dubai and see Kate,” Mr Giggs said.
“I would go on holiday and meet her in Dubai.”
Across a 15-month period, Mr Giggs said he saw Ms Greville 10-15 times and also saw her in the UK during that period.
Ryan Giggs: ‘I wanted to have my cake and eat it’
Ryan Giggs admitted he wanted to have his cake and eat it during affair with Kate Greville.
“We were both married, Kate started opening up about how unhappy she was in her marriage. I was coming to a stage in my marriage where I wasn’t as happy as I had been so we were just seeing more and more of each other,” Mr Giggs said.
Mr Giggs said Ms Greville left her husband six months after the affair began. “She regularly said how unhappy she was,” Mr Giggs added.
He said he left his wife Stacey, a year after the affair first started. Mr Giggs admitted that he wanted to “have his cake and eat it,” by being with Kate Greville and maintaining his family life at home.
Ryan Giggs: ‘Kate and I got on instantly,’ court hears
Ryan Giggs said he met his ex-partner Kate Greville in 2013 when she was working in PR for a company he and Gary Neville started.
“The first time I met Kate I was instantly attracted to her, I thought she was intelligent and funny. Even though it was a professional relationship we seemed to get on straight away,” Mr Giggs said.
“We sent lots of emails regarding potential interviews we were going to do to promote the cafe,” he added.
Mr Giggs said he knew Ms Greville was married when they met and said he began flirting with her after “two or three times meeting her.” He added that he would give Ms Greville attention.
Ryans Giggs says he has was unfaithful to Kate Greville, court hears
Ryan Giggs says his reputation for infelity is justified and admitted he was unfaithful to Ms Greville and lied about his infidelity on multiple occasions.
Questioned by the defence Chris Daw QC, Mr Giggs said his reputation in the press as a “love cheat” is justified. When questioned if he has ever assaulted a woman, Mr Giggs said: “No.”
Ryan Giggs is now being called to the witness box to give evidence for the first time in the trial.
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