Viscount ‘assaults’ teenage girlfriend in row over tongs
Lord Ruthven, 54, denies picking up Lola Tyrrell and throwing her into the street, court hears
A MIDDLE-AGED viscount was charged with assaulting his teenage girlfriend after a row erupted over cooking tongs.
Brer Ruthven, 54, is accused of picking up
Lola Tyrrell, 19, his partner, and throwing her against a wall in their Notting Hill flat in west London.
The Viscount Ruthven of Canberra, heir to the peerage title Baron Ruthven of Gowrie in the county of Perth, allegedly launched the attack after becoming protective over a new pair of kitchen tongs.
He denied one charge of assault during a hearing at Westminster magistrates’ court yesterday and is due to stand trial on Oct 4.
The couple were at Lord Ruthven’s flat in Notting Hill when it is claimed a row broke out between 9.30pm and 10pm on Aug 5.
The argument is alleged to have taken place over a pair of kitchen tongs that Ms Tyrrell wanted to use while cooking dinner because they were new.
The 54-year-old Lord Ruthven is said to have started shouting at his partner, accusing her of having a “s----- attitude”, and told her to use a fork.
He is accused of picking Ms Tyrrell up with one arm under her body and the other around her, and taking her to the door and flinging her into the street.
The teenager, who was said to have been barely dressed, apparently began banging on the kitchen window from outside the the flat.
The complainant is alleged to have told Lord Ruthven that she was going to call police but was then told to “f--off ”.
When officers arrived, Lord Ruthven is said to have told them: “I dragged her out of the house. I did not hurt her.
“We are in the process of splitting up and she can’t handle it.”
His ex-girlfriend will give evidence behind a screen when the trial begins at Hendon
‘I dragged her out of the house. I did not hurt her. We are … splitting up’
magistrates’ court. Lord Ruthven was educated at the private £39,000-per year Westminster School and is employed by Clyde & Co, a City law firm, as a database developer.
He is a musician with the band Melanchodelia and recently opened the Portobello Music Festival. Rory Laide, defending, said: “There have been posts on social media in derogatory terms concerning Mr Ruthven.
“He has reported them to the police.”
It is understood that the couple met in January last year at the Whitechapel Gallery in the East End, hitting it off immediately with shared interests in film, art and fashion.
The defendant, of Notting Hill, west London, was given bail on condition that he does not contact Ms Tyrrell.