The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Witness says Giggs butted her sister
Awoman has told a court that former Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs said to her: “I will headbutt you next” after he allegedly assaulted her elder sister.
Emma Greville, 26, said Giggs, 48, put his hands on the shoulders of Kate Greville, 38, during an argument and headbutted her on the lip “with lots of force”.
Giving evidence at the start of the second week of Giggs’ trial, Emma Greville said the defendant blamed her for the incident at his home in Worsley.
She told jurors at Manchester Crown Court how she was looking after the couple’s puppy on November 1 2020 while Giggs and her sister had dinner in the city centre.
She received a call from her sister who was “annoyed” the couple were late for dinner because Giggs had “been out all day drinking”, she said.
Emma Greville said the PR executive was already planning to leave Giggs when she got a message that evening saying: “Pack my stuff in the car, we are leaving tonight”, the court heard.
Emma Greville said her sister was “visibly upset” when she arrived and could see she had been drinking but was “not stumbling”.
Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, asked: “Did she explain anything to you about the reason for her being upset at that time.”
Emma Greville replied: “She just told me she confronted him about cheating.”
Giggs arrived about 15-20 minutes later, she said, and his mood was “not happy”.
She said: “He was also very drunk.”
Giggs then accused Kate of taking his phone, said the witness, which she denied.
Emma Greville told the court: “Ryan turned to Kate and said, ‘If I don’t have my phone, you are not having yours.
“Kate grabbed it before he did and they were in physical contact with each other.”
The couple then fought over the phone and ended up on the floor. Emma Greville said she then saw her sister try to retrieve her phone from Giggs’ back pocket.
She told the court: “I said to Ryan, ‘Just give her phone back and then we will go’. I also said to him ‘I saw you on top of her grab her phone so I know you have her phone’. He called me a ‘f ****** liar’.
“He had gone from annoyed to extremely angry.
“He put both his hands on Kate’s shoulders and with lots of force used his head to headbutt her in the lip. She fell to the ground screaming and covering her face.
“Afterwards he told me it was my fault he had headbutted Kate and turned to me and said, ‘I will headbutt you next’.”
Chris Daw QC, defending, said to Emma Greville: “I am going to suggest what you came upon had been a scuffle around the kitchen and there was no more than accidental contact, certainly not a deliberate headbutt. Do you agree?”
“Totally disagree,” she replied.
Mr Daw said Giggs’ threat to headbutt her was
“not true”.
She replied: “Well, it is true.”
Emma Greville said Giggs did not tell her at the time that either alleged assault was accidental and never apologised to her or her sister.
Giggs denies assaulting Kate Greville and causing actual bodily harm and assault of Emma Greville.
He has also pleaded not guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour against Kate Greville between August 2017 and November 2020.