September 1 – The jury in the trial of former Wales manager and Manchester United icon Ryan Giggs was discharged on Wednesday after failing to reach verdicts on domestic violence charges.
Giggs, 48, had been on trial for four weeks but after more than 20 hours of deliberations, the jury of seven women and four men failed to reach any verdicts.
Giggs, who potentially faces a retrial, had been charged with assault and use of coercive behaviour against an ex-girlfriend. He had denied all of the charges.
Prosecutors alleged that Giggs assaulted Kate Greville, causing actual bodily harm at his home in in November 2020.
He was also charged with common assault of Greville’s younger sister during the same incident, as well as using controlling and coercive behaviour toward his former girlfriend between August 2017 and November 2020.
During the trial, Giggs had said it was justified that he had a reputation for infidelity but added he has “never” physically assaulted a woman.
Judge Hilary Manley told the jury she would accept a majority verdict in which 10 of the 11-person jury agree. The 12th juror had been sent home because of illness.
Giggs stood down as manager of the Wales national team in June, saying he didn’t want to jeopardise preparations for the World Cup later this year in Qatar. He had been on leave since November.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which oversees prosecutions in England and Wales, must now decide whether to retry the case.
Meanwhile, Giggs remains on conditional bail until a further hearing in the case on September 7, and has said he looks forward to “clearing my name”.
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