Ryan Giggs's header to his ex-partner who puts his freedom at risk

• United Kingdom This was the start of the trial against former footballer Ryan Giggs for domestic violence

• Soccer The secrets of sexual initiation of the young Beckham

He has a

, but an allegation of domestic violence has put former British footballer Ryan Giggs in the dock.

The veteran English Premier League star and manager of the Wales national team until last June

three charges of assault and controlling and coercive conduct during the turbulent twilight of his relationship with his ex-partner, Kate Greville, between 2017 and November 1, 2020.

The

Manchester United club midfielder, 48, a father of two, denies the allegations.

This was reiterated by his lawyer, Chris Daw, before Judge Hilary Manley and a popular jury of seven women and five men.

On the other side, the prosecution emphasized the "litany of abuse, both physical and psychological" suffered by his ex-girlfriend, a 36-year-old public relations professional.

They met in 2013 and

- both were married at the time - that fluctuated like a roller coaster until the final violent episode, which led to the arrest and indictment of Giggs.

Greville testified during the first week of the trial, which concluded on Friday.

He revealed, behind a screen, details of "hell" and "humiliation"

, who behaved "like two different people."

"It was a cycle of abuse that made me feel insecure ... I would come back again and again, and he would promise me the whole world. I'm so ashamed that I did it, but that's how it was," she confessed.

In her police statement, she states that she became "Mr. Giggs's slave, to all his needs and demands."

"She had to do it because otherwise there would be consequences," she clarified when questioned by the defense.

The consequences ranged from "blackmail" by WhatsApp and other social networks

, according to the version of the accusation.

Greville recalled two occasions when her then-boyfriend kicked him out of the bed and room they shared in hotels in London and Dubai.

"The violence was not consistent or regular. There were times in our relationship when he was violent," admitted the alleged victim.

That's how it happened on All Saints' night when she decided to break up with Giggs and move into an apartment in Manchester that he had rented secretly from his partner.

that is the core of the divergent positions of the opposing parties in this notorious case, another one in the chain of complaints of physical and mental abuse of celebrities and people with power.

Greville contends the soccer coach "lost control," grappling with her until she fell to the ground and headbutting her that almost split her lip.

"He deliberately tried to hurt me. He looked me in the eye and headbutted me right in the face," he told Manchester court.

Giggs is also accused of elbowing the sister of his ex, who

.

The hearings will continue next week, with the main focus on the defense.

Daw exposed points of his strategy by questioning the

, who started her own agency before and after working at the hotel company founded by Giggs and his former United teammate, Gary Neville.

The attorney will try to convince the jurors that Greville's testimony is unreliable.

, not coercion" of the midfielder and that he hatched the plot of violence to benefit financially from the separation.

"What he is telling me is a pack of lies," snapped the lawyer at one stage of the cross-examination.

Among the many emails unsealed at trial, Giggs' team focused on one Greville sent to a friend two weeks before the breakup: "I need a plan/I'm not walking away with nothing... ".

Greville identified eight romantic relationships that Giggs apparently had during the rocky courtship

.

"The reality of what I discovered on his IPad was worse than I had imagined. He had 'affairs' with eight women while he was with me. Complete relationships. Constantly from the beginning," he declared without holding back tears, according to journalists who attended the court hearing.

Infidelity seems to be a constant in Giggs' private life.

The Welsh footballer put his family in suspense when it was revealed, in 2011, that

.

Other love affairs led six years later to the divorce petition of the mother of his two children.

Now, the allegation of domestic violence has affected his professional career and in June he resigned permanently from the Welsh national team manager.

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