The jury in the trial of Ryan Giggs has been dismissed because they were unable to agree on whether or not he assaulted his ex-girlfriend, her sister, and other people.
The former Manchester United footballer was on trial for allegedly abusing his ex-partner Kate Greville between August 2017 and November 2020, inflicting actual bodily damage on her, and employing coercive and controlling behavior toward her.
In addition, he was accused of assaulting Emma Greville, the younger sister of his ex-girlfriend.
On Tuesday, August 23, the 12-person jury was summoned to deliberate before one member was excused last week due to sickness.
Judge Hilary Manley offered a majority instruction on Tuesday after instructing the jury to reach unanimous decisions, stating that she would accept decisions on which at least 10 of the jury’s 11 members concurred.
On Wednesday, August 31, 2022, however, the jury of seven women and four men declared that after 22 hours and 59 minutes of deliberation, they had been undecided on any of the accusations against Giggs.
The jury foreman responded, “No,” when asked if there was any “realistic prospect” of obtaining verdicts with further time.
Lawyers will now have to examine the public interest of a retrial which would only take place many months from now.
Giggs has been informed by Judge Manley that he will be released on bail pending the outcome of a meeting of Crown Prosecution Service attorneys and the setting of a trial date.
Giggs has been granted bail and is exempted from appearing at the upcoming hearing on September 7.
The former Wales manager was charged with intentionally headbutting Ms. Greville on November 1, 2020, at his home in Worsley, Greater Manchester.
She confronted him about his alleged indiscretions during their argument at the Stock Exchange Hotel in Manchester earlier that evening, the court was told.
Ms. Greville claimed that after they returned separately to the house they shared, Giggs put his hands on her shoulders, looked her “directly in the eyes,” and headbutted her, breaking her lip.
Giggs allegedly elbowed Emma Greville in the jaw after she attempted to remove the player from her sister and claimed he had threatened to headbutt her.
At Manchester Crown Court, however, Giggs claimed to the jury that he and Kate Greville had unintentionally “clashed heads” while engaged in a “sort of tug of war” over a cellphone.
He cried in court as he described spending the night in a police cell following his detention as the “worst experience” of his life. He denied purposefully elbowing her sister or threatening to headbutt her.
Giggs admitted to the court that his reputation as a “love cheat” was well-deserved and that he had been unfaithful to all of his partners after Ms. Greville alleged that she had discovered evidence that Giggs had at least eight affairs during their relationship, but he denied using coercive or controlling behavior.
Sir Alex Ferguson, a former manager of Manchester United, testified for the defense during the trial and assured the jury that he had never witnessed Ryan Giggs lose his temper.
Additionally, the jury heard poetry that Giggs wrote for Ms. Greville throughout the course of their six-year on-and-off relationship, one of which contained the line, “She made me as hard as a totem pole.”
