The former Manchester United and Wales footballer will face a retrial from July 31, 2023, after jurors in his first trial failed to reach verdicts last week. Giggs, 48, will be on bail for more than two-and-a-half years until he faces a jury at Manchester Crown Court. He was not in court on Wednesday as the prosecutor, Peter Wright QC, confirmed that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will seek a retrial in 11 months. Wright told the judge that the case had been dealt with “at a senior level” by the CPS and that “we are seeking a retrial in relation to Mr Giggs”. Wright said the complainant, Giggs’ ex-partner Kate Greville, had also indicated she was prepared to testify at a retrial. The retrial is set to begin on July 31, almost a year after his first trial began and more than two and a half years after Giggs was arrested on November 1, 2020. The judge said Giggs would remain on bail and that he was “well aware” of her conditions. He did not have to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on July 3, 2023. The former Wales manager is accused of using coercive and controlling behavior against his then-girlfriend Kate Greville between August 2017 and November 2020. He is also charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Greville, 38. He allegedly headbutted her deliberately during an argument at his home in Worsley, Greater Manchester, on 1 November 2020. Giggs faces a third charge related to the alleged assault of Greville’s younger sister Emma Greville, who claims the former footballer elbowed her in the face during the same row. Giggs has denied all three charges. His barrister, Chris Daw QC, said at his first trial last month that they were based on “distortion, exaggeration and lies” and that Giggs had never committed violence against a woman or tried to curtail his social life, holidays or career of Greville. Giggs, the most decorated footballer in the English game, had described the night of his arrest as “the worst experience of my life”. The jury of seven women and five men heard the prosecution claim that Giggs and Greville had a “toxic” relationship and split up several times during their six years together. Daw compared them to “fighting kids, or teenagers at best” – but the former footballer insisted his behavior was never coercive or controlling. She said the allegations were those of a “scorned” woman who was “furious” at his failure to stay true to her.
