Wale football legend, Ryan Giggs has been 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 today 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 today, 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 trial.
Mr. Wright said that, while she stood by her account of what happened, she felt frustrated by the judicial process.
The court heard that for more than a month, until June 29, Ms Greville, who has a new partner and a baby, refused to 'engage' with the investigating officer in the case, although eventually he was able to make contact and request she provide a doctor's note to outline her exact health problems.
Mr. Wright said a decision on whether to continue with the case was being considered at the highest level of the Crown Prosecution Service, adding that, when it came to allegations of coercive and controlling behaviour by allegedly abusive men, the 'wearing down of a complainant is not to be interpreted by the public and by men as a passport to an acquittal.'
But Chris Daw, defending, said Giggs 'did not buy the line' that Miss Greville was 'not well enough or worn down.'
Instead he claimed the real reason she wanted to 'pull the plug' was because the defence had recently discovered that she had undergone a cosmetic procedure to have Russian lip fillers on or around the day of the alleged headbutt.
Ms Greville was pictured in a tabloid newspaper several days after the alleged attack with apparently swollen and bruised lips.
Bank statements and text messages recently disclosed to the defence, between Ms Greville and her sister, Emma, who was also a witness in the case, indicated she had had lip filler injected to increase their size, Mr Daw said.
These had the 'potential' to cause bruising, he added.
'Swelling to the lips must be relevant to the issue of causing ABH (actual bodily harm) that the prosecution relies heavily upon,' he said.
Mr Daw said other messages recently disclosed also showed Ms Greville was talking to friends, family and socialising in the month before the alleged assault – in contradiction of her claims she was isolated because of Giggs' alleged controlling behaviour.
The barrister added that Ms Greville 'knew full well' that the account she gave in the witness box at the previous trial last year would be 'undermined' and 'this is why this witness seeks to pull the plug.'
Chris Daw KC, defending Giggs, said: 'Mr Giggs is deeply relieved the prosecution has finally come to an end after almost three years in which he's been fighting throughout to clear his name.
'He has always been innocent of these charges, there's been very, very many lies told about him in court.
'He's now been found not guilty of all the charges and going forward would like to rebuild his life and career as an innocent man.'
A CPS spokesperson today said: 'At all stages we keep cases under careful review, to ensure our legal test is met. This means there must be a realistic prospect of conviction based upon the available evidence and a prosecution is in the public interest.
'Following a recent change in circumstances in this case we have determined our legal test is no longer met.
'We have determined there is no longer sufficient evidence available to proceed in respect of the controlling or coercive behaviour charge and that it is no longer in the public interest to prosecute the remaining assault charges.
'This decision was made following detailed discussions with Greater Manchester Police and consultation with the complainants.
'It is not the function of the CPS to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent, and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for the criminal court to consider.
'We encourage any potential victims to come forward and report offences to the police and we will prosecute wherever our legal test is met.'
During Giggs's time at Old Trafford, Manchester United won 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies, four FA Cups and three League Cups.
Giggs stood down as manager of the Wales national team following a period of leave since November 2020.
He won 64 caps for Wales and is co-owner of League Two side Salford.
