Giggs tells the jury the status for “infidelity” is justified, however he has by no means hit a lady

Ryan Giggs

Former Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs has told a jury he has not been faithful in any of his romantic relationships but has never assaulted a woman.

Giggs began Tuesday at Manchester Crown Court, where he stands trial accused of killing his ex-partner Kate Greville, 38, and her younger sister Emma Greville, 26, on March 1.

The 48-year-old is also accused of using controlling and coercive behavior against Kate Greville.

The former winger’s lawyer, Chris Daw QC, called his client to the witness stand and asked Giggs if he agreed that he was “known” worldwide as a footballer.

Mr Daw added: “But you are also known for something else, you have a reputation for infidelity. Is this reputation justified?”

Giggs replied, “Yes.”

Turning to the former Wales international’s romantic life, Mr Daw asked: “Throughout your relationships with women, right down to Ms Greville, have you managed to remain faithful to any of them?”

The lawyer asked, “If an attractive woman has shown you an interest regardless of your marital status, can you resist?”

He agreed he was a “flirt” by nature and confirmed he had lied to his ex-wife Stacey and wife Greville about his infidelity.

Turning to the allegations he is on trial for, Mr Daw asked: “Have you ever physically assaulted a woman?”

Mr Daw continued: “Either on November 1, 2020 or on another occasion?”

Giggs repeated, “No.”

Ryan Giggs arrives at Manchester Crown Court (Steven Allen/PA)

Mr Daw then asked: “Have you ever attempted to control or coerce a woman in any way or in the way Ms Greville claimed?”

Again, Giggs replied, “No.”

Mr Daw asked: “Have you made Kate Greville a slave to all your needs and demands as she has described?” and Giggs replied: “I have not.”

Giggs told the judges about his early football career, having coached at Manchester City before being spotted by Sir Alex Ferguson aged 13 and playing for Manchester United’s first-team as a teenager.

He spoke of meeting his now-ex-wife at a barbecue when he was 18, how they started dating in their late 20s, moved to Worsley and had two children.

Giggs said he has a “very good” relationship with his children, but when asked if he was faithful to his wife, Giggs replied, “No, I wasn’t.”

He first met Ms Greville around 2013-14 when she was working for a PR firm tasked with handling his dealings with Gary Neville.

“When I first met Kate, I was immediately drawn to her, I found her attractive, I found her intelligent, I found her funny,” he said.

The couple, who were both married, later exchanged photos, including one of her in a cropped sports top.

“I had never seen her body before,” Giggs said. “It was the first time I knew she had abs. She was in good shape. I thought she looked hot.”

The couple had sex for the first time the night before a scheduled photo shoot in London for Cafe Football.

Ms Greville was “unhappy” in her marriage and left her husband “no more than six months” after she and Giggs first slept together.

Giggs said he continued to stay at his family home with his then-wife Stacey and their two children while the affair continued.

Earlier, jurors heard Giggs tell police in a prepared statement his “head butted” with his girlfriend’s during a “scuffle” over a cellphone, but the hit was “not intentional.”

Giggs was questioned by detectives the day after his arrest on suspicion of assaulting Ms Greville and her sister during an incident at the defendant’s home in Worsley, Greater Manchester.

The jury was told Tuesday that he provided officers with a handwritten statement that began with the words “at this stage, I am very emotional about the incident.”

He continued: “It is true that unfortunately Kate and I got into an argument which resulted in us arguing over my phone which she took.

“I accept that she caught me in the face during the scuffle, which caused bleeding to the lip and inner mouth.”

He later claimed that there was a “fight” in the house’s utility room.

“Kate Greville grabbed his hand and a scuffle ensued with her sister Emma, ​​who was standing ‘in close proximity,'” the statement to police said.

Giggs said: “I accept that my head bumped into hers (Kate) during that scuffle.

“I’m not sure if it was the face or the head, but I’m sure it wasn’t intentional.”

He added the couple has been together for four years and have had their “ups and downs,” but mostly the relationship is “wonderful.”

In a prepared statement of defense handed over to police and read in court by prosecutor Peter Wright QC, Giggs denied that his behavior towards Ms Greville was “in any way controlling or coercive and that I did not commit any of the incidents in the manner described”. .

In response to a claim he threatened to release intimate photos of Ms Greville or himself, Giggs said in his statement he “does not recall” making the threat and “never” published such material.

“I would be afraid of the publicity it would generate,” he said.

He also claimed Ms Greville tried to “control our relationship”, including an incident when she was jealous of his “contact with other women”.

“She ordered me to message certain women with whom she falsely accused me of having an affair,” he said.

“She dictated the content of the messages and watched me as I sent them.

“I feel extremely distressed, hurt and emotional by the way this relationship is being portrayed.”

Giggs denies wrongdoing and the trial continues.