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Former Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs is on trial at Manchester Crown Court
PA
Trial
Ryan Giggs 'argued with girlfriend' over 'attractive' TV sports presenter
The former Manchester United winger was accused by his girlfriend, PR executive Kate Greville, of flirting with the unnamed presenter, his trial heard.
2.26pm, 17 Aug 2022
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LAST UPDATE|17 Aug 2022
RYAN GIGGS SAID “nothing physical” happened on a night his ex-partner claims he threw a bag with a laptop in it at her head.
Giggs is on trial accused of assaulting PR executive Kate Greville, 38, and her younger sister, Emma Greville, 26, at his home in Worsley, Greater Manchester, on November 1 2020
Greville claims the former Manchester United winger threw the bag at her, kicked her out of bed, and ejected her naked into the corridor at the Stafford Hotel in London in December 2019.
Describing his emotional state at the time of his arrest, he said: “I was scared. I’d never been in that position before, so scared.”
Giggs confirmed he was arrested, taken to the police station and spent the night in a cell.
He then started crying as he said it was the “worst experience of my life”.
Giggs told the court he got “hardly any” sleep that night and spoke to a solicitor for the first time the next day.
The night that Giggs allegedly kicked Greville out of the room naked the couple had travelled down for his agent’s Christmas party, which included a mini-golf tournament and a visit to a nightclub.
A draw took place for the golf event and Giggs, 48, was paired with a female sports presenter, who he described as an “attractive lady”, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Greville was not happy, he said, and they swapped partners to play alongside each other.
The party of about 20 people moved on to Winter Wonderland, where a table had been booked inside a Bavarian beer garden tent.
Giggs said Greville later accused him of flirting with the TV presenter he had been paired with.
PA
PA
His barrister Chris Daw QC asked: “Had you, on this occasion?”
Giggs replied: “No.
“I was at one end of the table speaking to my agent and a few cricketers I knew and the other end were a group of girls who worked for the agency and the sports presenter I mentioned.
“I thought we were getting on fine. I said (to Kate), ‘Is everything OK?’ and she said, ‘No, not really’, which surprised me.
“She just accused me of flirting with the girl, which I was not. We were at opposite ends of the table.
“She said, ‘You kept looking at her. I was watching you. You were definitely flirting’.”
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Giggs told jurors: “I was slightly embarrassed we were arguing. I left on my own. I walked to the club where we going next. It was a long walk.”
His colleagues later arrived as he sat in a booth facing the dance floor.
He said: “I was sat down and had a clear view of Kate and one of the male sports presenters who was present.
“They were dancing together, holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes.
“I couldn’t believe it. I said to my agent, ‘I’m going,’ and got a taxi and went back to the hotel.”
Daw asked: “Was there a confrontation in the club?”
Giggs replied: “I was tired. I didn’t want to get into an argument.
“I got a taxi back to the Stafford, got into bed and fell asleep.”
He said that after “a hour or so”, a concierge rang to ask if he could let in a young woman who said she was staying in his room.
Former Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs leaving Manchester Crown Court Peter Byrne / PA
Peter Byrne / PA / PA
An argument followed with Greville in the room as she denied holding hands with the man “in the middle of the dance floor in front of my friends and colleagues”, Giggs said.
He said: “Kate was then trying to get into bed and I said, ‘I’m not sleeping with you tonight’.
“There was a suite in the room and I said, ‘You can sleep in the area where there is a couch’.”
Giggs said he threw a Louis Vuitton holdall in the direction of the bed.
He said: “Kate was still trying to get into bed. I was trying to push her into the lounge area. Then, quite quickly, the argument fizzled out and we both spent the night together.”
Daw asked: “Did you in any way do anything physical towards her that night?”
Giggs said: “No, I did not.
“We were both quite drunk and fell asleep. In the morning, we woke up and had sex.”
The next day, Giggs was busy with television duties in west London while Greville travelled to a wedding in Shropshire, the court heard.
The ex-Wales manager later drove back to Manchester at night and collected Greville from the wedding the following morning.
He denied Greville’s suggestion that he volunteered to pick her up out of guilt.
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