A woman who claims ex-Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs controlled her in their relationship thought he was her “soul mate” but saw early “red flags,” a court has heard today.
PR executive Kate Greville, 36, told detectives it was “almost like was he was two people” during their relationship. Ms Greville was interviewed by police weeks after she alleged he headbutted her in November 2020.
Ms Greville said she was unhappy in a controlling relationship with her husband when she started an affair with Giggs, who was also married. She said: “He would tell me about his marriage and he was not happy, I would talk about mine.
READ MORE: Man named as suspect after Concert Square videos shared online
“Things developed from there and we started to have an affair. I left my husband two months later.
“He was like a best friend, a soul mate, he was the one to save me from that marriage. It was more than a sexual thing.
“It was like he was my best friend but there were definite red flags.”
She said Giggs told her he needed more time to end his marriage with his wife Stacey. Eventually she gave him an ultimatum but when nothing changed she decided to move to Abu Dhabi to “get away from him.”
The prosecution at Manchester Crown Court say Giggs was idolised for his football skills but behind his public persona had an “uglier and more sinister side.” Jurors were told the 48-year-old’s private life involved a “litany of abuse, both physical and psychological, of a woman he professed to love.”
Giggs denies using controlling and coercive behaviour against Ms Greville between August 2017 and November 2020. He has also pleaded not guilty to assaulting the 36-year-old, causing her actual bodily harm, and of the common assault of her younger sister, Emma Greville, at his home in Worsley, Greater Manchester, on November 1 2020.
He is alleged to have “lost control” and headbutted Ms Greville after she decided to leave him. Giggs is then said to have deliberately elbowed Emma Greville in the jaw as she attempted to pull the former Wales boss off her sister as they grappled on the floor.
Giggs stood down in June as manager of the Wales national team following a period of leave since November 2020. In a statement, he said he did not want the country’s preparations for this year’s World Cup in Qatar to be “affected, destabilised or jeopardised" by the continued interest around his case.
During his time at Old Trafford, Manchester United won 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies, four FA Cups and three League Cups. He won 64 caps for Wales and is co-owner of League Two side Salford City.
The trial is expected to last up to 10 days.
READ NEXT:
- Live updates as cordon in place after drive-by shooting
- Suspected drunk driver flips Bentley crashing into traffic lights
- Mum stepped out shower to find ex-boyfriend and gang in her house
- Vile carer caught stealing on CCTV after family became suspicious
- Coleen Rooney's exclusive VIP party after Wagatha Christie court battle
