Ryan Giggs trial jury shown police video of his arrest

The jury at the trial of Ryan Giggs has been shown police video of the moment he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his then girlfriend after admitting he had hit her on the lip in what he described as a “tangle” over a puppy and mobile phone.

On the fifth day of the trial at Manchester crown court, the former footballer could be heard in the video saying Kate Greville had kicked him first in the head in a “struggle” in the couple’s home in Worsley on 1 November 2020.

He said they were rowing about a puppy and Greville’s refusal to return Giggs’s mobile phone.

Giggs, 48, could be heard telling an officer: “We got into a little bit of a tangle – rumbled on the floor there.” He added: “She kicked me in the head – busted my lip … I hit her on the lip.”

Greville was found by police with such a bruised lip that she had problems speaking, the jury was told. In another body-worn camera video played to the court she could be seen with her head in her hands as she sat on the home’s kitchen floor.

Asked by the officer if Greville would give the same version of events, Giggs said: “She’s just going to say I attacked her.”

Giggs told the officer that before the struggle he had asked Greville, 38, to leave after an argument about a recently born cocker spaniel. When she refused, he moved her possessions outside the property.

Recounting the argument, Giggs could he heard saying: “‘It’s my puppy, no it’s my puppy,’ that sort of thing. Then I went into the garage and looked after the dog. I come back. I’ve just said let’s go. She won’t go. I’ve told my neighbour: ‘Can you please help me? Please ring the police because Kate isn’t going.’ She [the neighbour] is not getting involved.”

Giggs could also be heard saying he withheld