Ryan Giggs trial: what ex-footballer said about Kate Greville assault allegation and cheating on Stacey Giggs

Ryan Giggs has told a jury he has never been faithful in any of his romantic relationships, but he has never assaulted a woman.

The former Manchester United footballer agreed under questioning from his barrister that he “wanted to have his cake and eat it” as he continued to live at the family home while he was having an affair with PR executive Kate Greville.

Giggs began giving evidence in his defence for the first time on Tuesday at Manchester Crown Court, where he is on trial accused of assaulting his ex-partner Kate Greville, 38, and her younger sister Emma Greville, 26, on November 1 2020.

The 48-year-old is also accused of using controlling and coercive behaviour against Kate Greville.

He denies the charges.

What did Ryan Giggs say in his evidence?

The former winger’s barrister Chris Daw QC, calling his client to the witness box, asked Giggs if he agreed he was “well known” the world over for being a footballer.

Mr Daw added: “But you are also known for something else, you have a reputation for infidelity. What the newspapers sometimes call a love cheat.”

Giggs said: “Yes.”

Mr Daw went on: “Is that reputation justified?”

Giggs replied: “Yes.”

Turning to the ex-Wales international’s romantic life, Mr Daw asked: “In the course of your relationships with women, up to and including Ms Greville, have you managed to be faithful to any of them?”

“No,” said Giggs.

The barrister asked: “If an attractive woman has shown you interest regardless of your marital status, are you able to resist?”

Giggs replied: “No.”

He agreed he was a “flirt by nature” and confirmed he lied to his ex-wife Stacey and Ms Greville about his infidelities.

What did he say about the charges against him?

Turning to the allegations for which he is on trial, Mr Daw asked: “Have you ever physically assaulted a woman?”

“No,” replied Giggs.

Mr Daw went on: “Either on November 1 2020 or on any other occasion?”

Giggs repeated: “No.”

Mr Daw then asked: “Have you ever set out to control or coerce a woman in any way or in the ways alleged by Ms Greville?”

Again, Giggs replied: “No.”

Mr Daw asked: “Did you make Kate Greville a slave to your every need and every demand as she described?” and Giggs replied: “I did not.”

Giggs told jurors about his early football career, training with Manchester City before being spotted by Sir Alex Ferguson at the age of 13 and playing for the first team at Manchester United while he was still a teenager.

He spoke of meeting his now ex-wife at a barbecue when he was 18, how they started a relationship in his late 20s, moved to Worsley and had two children.

Giggs said he had a “very good” relationship with his children but, asked if he was faithful to his wife, Giggs replied: “No, I wasn’t.”

What did he say about his relationship with Kate Greville?

Around 2013-14, he first met Ms Greville while she was working for a PR firm employed to look after his businesses with Gary Neville.

“The first time I met Kate I was immediately attracted to her, I thought she was attractive, I thought she was intelligent, I thought she was funny,” he said.

The pair, who were both married, later swapped photos, including one of her in a cropped gym top.

“I had never seen her body before,” said Giggs. “It was the first time I knew she had abs. She was in good shape. I thought she looked hot.”

The pair had sex for the first time on the night before a planned photoshoot in London for Cafe Football.

Ms Greville was “unhappy” in her marriage and left her husband “no longer than six months” after she and Giggs first slept together.

Giggs said he continued to stay at his family home with then-wife Stacey and their two children as the affair carried on.

Mr Daw went on to ask him: “Was there any discussions about your intentions as far as your marriage?”

Giggs said: “By this time the relationship had got more and more serious. We were falling in love with each other. I had spoken to Kate of moving out of the house and us being together.”

Mr Daw said: “Did you move out of the family house immediately after?”

Giggs said: “It was some time later. I would say it was about a year after Kate left.” Mr Daw asked: “Why was it that you did not leave your wife straightaway?” Giggs said: “Me and my ex-wife we had problems. I cheated on my ex-wife which was quite a public affair.

“We got over that and things were good. “It was a part of my life where I was just finishing football and going into a coaching career. Longer hours. More time away from Stacey. More time away from the family. I was not giving Stacey the attention she deserved. Gradually we were getting more and more unhappy. Together with Kate it was becoming more and more difficult.”

Mr Daw said: “Cutting to the chase, did you in a sense want to have your cake and eat it?” Giggs replied: “Yes.”

What did Giggs tell police about the November 2020 incident?

Earlier, jurors heard how in a prepared statement Giggs told police his “head clashed” with his girlfriend’s during a “scuffle” over a mobile phone but the blow was “not deliberate”.

Giggs was interviewed by detectives the day after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting Ms Greville and her sister during an the incident at the defendant’s home in Worsley, Greater Manchester.

Jurors were told on Tuesday that he provided officers with a handwritten prepared statement which began with the words “at this stage I feel very emotional about the incident”.

He went on: “It is correct that unfortunately Kate and I got into an argument which resulted in us having a tussle over my phone which she had taken.

“I accept during the tussle she caught me in the face, causing bleeding to the lip and inner mouth.”

Later, he claimed that while in the utility room at the house there was a “scuffle”.

“Kate Greville grabbed his hand and a scuffle developed with her sister Emma ‘standing in close proximity’,” the statement given to police said.

Giggs said: “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.”

He added the couple had been together for four years and had had their “ups and downs”, but that the relationship was mainly “wonderful”.

What was said about the controlling and coercive behaviour allegation?

In a prepared defence statement given to police and read in court by prosecutor Peter Wright QC, Giggs denied his behaviour towards Ms Greville was “in any way controlling or coercive, nor that I have done any of the incidents in the manner described”.

In response to an allegation that he had threatened to release intimate photos of Ms Greville or himself, Giggs’ statement said he “didn’t recall” making the threat and would “never” have released such material.

“I would be terrified of the publicity that would be generated,” he said.

He also claimed Ms Greville had tried to “control our relationship”, including an incident when she was jealous of his “contact with other females”.

“She ordered me to message certain women with whom she incorrectly accused me of having an affair,” he said.

“She dictated the content of the messages and watched me while I sent them.

“I feel extremely distressed, hurt and emotional by the way this relationship is being painted to be.”