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The Manchester United legend is now a free man having previously been accused of coercive control by his ex-girlfriend and her sister
Ryan Giggs was on Tuesday morning sensationally cleared of assaulting his ex-girlfriend Kate Greville after she declined to co-operate with a retrial.
The ex-Manchester United footballer, 49, was facing charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm over an alleged headbutt on Ms Greville, 38, plus further counts of coercive or controlling behaviour against her and common assault against her sister Emma.
But, in a 10-minute court hearing, the prosecution offered no evidence and Judge Hilary Manley said: “I formally enter not guilty verdicts in respect of each of the three counts.”
It is also revealed that the case began to fall apart in May, when Ms Greville said she did not want to testify due to the effects of the process on her 'mental and physical well-being.'
However, lawyers for Giggs said he 'did not buy' her reasoning, insisting the prosecution was put off by new information uncovered by the defence, including a cosmetic procedure to have lip fillers on or around the day of the alleged headbutt - several days before she was pictured with apparently swollen and bruised lips as a result of the alleged attack.
Giggs' barrister Chris Daw KC said his client was 'looking forward to rebuilding his life and career as an innocent man'.
Jurors had failed to reach a verdict following an original, 11-day trial last year, after 22 hours and 59 minutes' deliberations. A retrial had been scheduled to begin on July 31.
The decision not to go ahead was revealed during the short pre-trial review hearing at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday morning, with neither Giggs nor Ms Greville in attendance.
Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, said the original trial over the alleged assault at Giggs' home in November 2020 was 'a process that has taken its toll' on PR consultant Ms Greville and her sister.
He said Ms Greville had 'indicated an unwillingness' to give evidence in a re-trial as doing so in the first had 'taken its toll' on her and her sister.
Mr Wright said: “This is not a decision taken lightly.”
He said there was no realistic prospect of conviction on count one, that of coercive and controlling behaviour, and it was no longer in the public interest to proceed to prosecute on the other charges of assault on Ms Greville and her sister.
He added: “That being the case, we formally offer no evidence on counts one, two and three.”
Judge Hilary Manley replied: “I formally enter not guilty verdicts in respect of those counts.”
Earlier, Mr Wright told the court the case had had a 'long history' and that the welfare of the complainants 'are at the very centre of the decision-making process'.
Mr Wright said there had been 'protracted' efforts to find out why she was unwilling to co-operate with a second trial but prosecuting lawyers did not think it appropriate to issue a witness summons to compel her to give evidence for a second time.
The case began to fall apart in May when his former girlfriend Ms Greville – the prosecution's main witness – told investigators she didn't want to give evidence at the re-trial for her 'mental and physical well-being.'
At a previous hearing earlier this month, which couldn't be reported until Tuesday, prosecutor Peter Wright KC said she had been left 'visibly distressed and weary' by giving evidence and felt 'violated' by Gigg's conduct and from being cross-examined by his barrister over several days in the first tria
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