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Ryan Giggs penned poem to Kate Greville that read 'pulling you was my greatest ever coo'

Ryan Giggs - PAUL CURRIE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 
Ryan Giggs - PAUL CURRIE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Ryan Giggs penned a poem to his ex-girlfriend Kate Greville in which he told her that "pulling you was my greatest ever coo", a court has heard.

Lawyers read out reams of gushing messages between the then-couple, and amongst those was the rhyming note which was sent in the early stages of their relationship.

Mr Giggs’ innuendo-laden verse begins: "My darling Kate. Unequivocally, our love was fate", and ends with him referring to his genitalia as a "totem pole".

The poem was written in response to a poem by Kate Greville to the former footballer, which included the line "every day you do me proud, because you’re well endowed".

It was also heard that Mr Giggs said he loved his then-girlfriend "more than all my Premier League appearances, which is a lot".

Conversely, Ms Greville said that her "favourite place in the world" was "in the little crevice" under his chin. The jury also heard how online stalking was commonplace in their relationship.

Manchester Crown Court was told how the ex-footballer sent his then-girlfriend a message saying he would "stalk her like mad" if he did not talk to her.

Asked what this meant, Mr Giggs said it was mutual and that: "It just meant we were checking up on each other… it was just common in our relationship."

The court also heard that during his tenure as Wales manager, Mr Giggs handed over a copy of his itinerary to Ms Greville which detailed "every minute" of his daily routine so that she could cross-reference it.

When their relationship broke down, Mr Giggs said he would turn up unannounced at Ms Greville’s gym, home and workplace in an attempt to "rekindle" things.

The court heard that on every occasion the former footballer turned up without telling Ms Greville, they got back together.

"She was happy that I fought for us and that I kept persisting," he told the jury. The court also heard about the night of November 1, 2020, when he is alleged to have assaulted Ms Greville.

Mr Giggs admitted trying to stop Ms Greville's sister, Emma Greville from reporting an argument to the police by using his teenage daughter as a "lever".

Peter Wright QC, for the Crown, finished his cross-examination of Mr Giggs by asking: "You assaulted her [Kate Greville], didn't you? And you assaulted her sister, didn't you?"

"No," he answered twice.

Mr Giggs said that he was "scared" police were on their way because of the potential consequences of false allegations being made to the police, adding, "it just wouldn’t look good".

The ex-Wales manager is on trial accused of assaulting Ms Greville and subjecting her to controlling and coercive behaviour from August 2017 to November 2020.

He denies the charges.

The trial continues.


06:22 PM

Trial adjourned

That's it for day nine.

We'll be back tomorrow at the earlier time of 10am.


04:26 PM

Mr Griggs' poem to Ms Greville

Ryan Giggs penned a poem to his ex-girlfriend Kate Greville in which he told her that “pulling you was my greatest ever coo”, a court heard.

Read the poem in full below.

My darling Kate

Unequivocally our love was fate

I fell in love with you at first sight

I remember coz I was as high as a kite

Those beautiful eyes made me shiver

I’m not gonna lie I think of you I dream of you

Can’t help thinking pulling you was my greatest ever coo

That stomach those abs

Those pictures you send so I can keep tabs

You make me feel funny down there

Especially when you’re there and you look up and stare

I’m beginning to think you are always right

That’s okay it will keep us tight

I’m gonna end by saying you are my love my friend my soul

And most of all you believe in me, which makes me hard as a totem pole


04:09 PM

Ms Greville was pulled over by CID for using phone whilst driving

The court heard an exchange between the then-couple when Ms Greville said she got "pulled over by CID" while driving for using her phone.

Mr Giggs asked if she was okay.

Ms Grville replied: "I’m fine. He was a child and I said, 'sorry dear, sorry dear, please don't give me a fine'.

"He said: 'Okay, don't tell anyone."


04:06 PM

Ms Greville's favourite place in world - crevice under Mr Giggs' chin

Ms Greville told Mr Giggs that her "favourite place in the world" was "in the little crevice" under his chin.

The message said that Mr Giggs didn't want to be "in Bali" or "playing golf with my mates", but in bed with Ms Greville her her in the "little crevice under my chin... legs interlinked".

Ms Greville replied: "That’s my favourite place in the world."


03:58 PM

'I love you more than all my Premier League appearances, which is a lot'

Ryan Giggs, in once message read out to court from April 2017, said he loved Kate Greville "more than all my Premier League appearances, which is a lot"

The message read: "I have to continuously ask 'how the f--- did I pull you'."

He added that she was "a painting, a supermodel, a thoroughbred" and that he loves her "more than all my Premier League appearances, which is a lot".


03:55 PM

'You make me very happy, smile and laugh every day'

More gushing messages are being read to the jury.

Kate Greville:  "I really do adore you. You make me very happy, smile and laugh every day."

Ryan Giggs: "Haha xx."

Ryan Giggs: "I feel the same, I go on these trips and even through I'm alone if feels like you’re with me every step of the way. Partners baby."


03:51 PM

'I'm not perfect, far from it'

The jury continued to hear messages between the then-couple. 

In one, Mr Giggs thanked Ms Greville for being there for him in a "difficult time of my life",

He added: "You’re beautiful inside and out.

"Thank you for putting up with me, I'm not perfect, far from it."


03:47 PM

Messages between Ryan Giggs and Kate Greville read out

The court is hearing messages exchanged between Mr Giggs (RG)and Kate Greville (KG).

They begin in October 2013.

Among them are:

  1. RG: You look f---ing unbelievable

  2. RG You are by far the funniest girl I’ve ever met

  3. KG: Thank you, you’ve made me blush

  4. RG: Morning baby. Today I will love you like there’s no tomorrow and tomorrow I will do it again


03:36 PM

Ryan Giggs leaves witness box for first time since Tuesday

Wrapping up his re-examination, Mr Daw QC (CD) asked Mr Giggs (RG) a series of final questions.

CD: In terms of violence, have you ever used violence in public?

RG: No

CD: Have you ever been violent in private ?

RG: No

CD: Have you ever lost control of yourself physically and attacked someone?

RG: No

CD: In any circumstance?

RG: No

And with that, the Manchester United great left the witness box in which he has spent the past three days.


03:31 PM

'Kate was kicking me in the head'

At the end of his re-examination of Mr Giggs, Mr Daw QC asked if the ex-footballer had ever tried to enslave Ms Greville as she had suggested.

Mr Giggs denied this.

Asked about the events on Nov 1, he was asked who, if anyone, had been physical.

Mr Giggs answered: "When we fell it was mutual but then when we fell on the floor, Kate was kicking me in the head."

Mr Daw QC added: "And in the kitchen - who had instigated any physical contact?"

"Kate," Mr Giggs said.


03:26 PM

Ms Greville was given copy of minute-by-minute Wales manager itinerary

Ryan Giggs handed over a copy of his itinerary as Wales to Kate Greville which detailed "every minute" of his daily routine, the court heard.

Chris Daw QC reminded Ryan Giggs of a message he sent to Kate Greville in June 2020 during one of their break-ups in which he wrote: “I will stalk you like mad and you know how good I am at that (smile emoji).”

The barrister went on to read a message exchange from August 2020 in which Kate Greville wrote: “I sent you loads of messages with no reply but you have been on Instagram five minutes ago.”

Mr Giggs replies: “Haven’t. Check itinerary.”

Kate Greville says: “Have babes. Who you talking to?”

Mr Giggs says: “Huh?”

Kate Greville says: “You were online before and I was stalking you. Just checking who you were talking to.”

Mr Giggs told Mr Daw the “itinerary” referred to his daily activities as then manager of Wales, which he said his ex-partner had details of at that time.

Mr Daw said: “In terms of stalking in this context, what did it mean?”

Mr Giggs said: “It just meant we were checking up on each other.”


03:25 PM

'I answered that I didn’t know what I meant'

Chris Daw QC asked Ryan Giggs about some of his answers to prosecutor Peter Wright QC in cross-examination on Wednesday.

Asking about a line from the email in which Mr Giggs said “I’m so f****** mad right now I’m scaring myself because I could do anything”, Mr Wright had said: “It wasn’t an idle threat, was it?”

Mr Giggs had replied: “No.”

Mr Daw said: “What were you agreeing to? What sort of threat were you agreeing to having made?”

Mr Giggs said: “I answered that I didn’t know what I meant.”

Mr Daw asked: “What were your intentions at that time? What were you planning to do?”

Mr Giggs said: “I don’t know.”


03:22 PM

Mr Giggs and Ms Greville got back together every time after unannounced visit

Mr Giggs was asked why he would turn up unannounced at Ms Greville's gym, home or place of work.

"Just to try and see her to rekindle the relationship," he answered.

Mr Daw QC asked: "In the past when you did that, on what proportion of occasions did you get back together?"

"All of them," Mr Giggs said.

Mr Daw QC continued: "And after you got back together what was her attitude the unannounced visits and your persistence?"

Mr Giggs said: "She was happy that I fought for us and that I kept persisting."

Asked what happened when Mr Giggs turned up at her gym without Ms Greville knowing, he said: "Kate came out of the gym and she’d seen that I was there, she got in my car and we had a chat."

After that, "we got back together", he said. And that Ms Greville was "happy" about this.


03:18 PM

'I was upset'

Asked if those messages reflected his true feelings about Ms Greville, Mr Giggs answered: "No."

Mr Daw QC said: "So why did you use that kind of language and those topics?"

Mr Giggs answered: "I was upset. I was looking forward to going to the trip was on a big high and then really low."


03:16 PM

Ryan Giggs sent SiS tablets to a hungover Kate Greville

Mr Giggs was asked about the language he used during a flurry of emails to Kate Greville after she told him she didn't want him to take her on a trip to Scotland.

The jury heard an exchange that preceded this, during an "off" period of their relationship.

Kate Greville:  Very Richard Gere

Kate Greville: Smooth

Ryan Giggs: I miss you Kate

Kate Greville: You’re like Father Christmas

Kate Greville: Lots of surprises but we never see you

Kate Greville: Thank you

Kate Greville: Very needed and very hungover

Ryan Giggs: I want to see you

Kate Greville: I’ll call you tomorrow

Kate Greville: PS I'm not mad

Asked what these messages meant, Mr Giggs said: "I think [I'd sent her] some food and some flowers... [and] SiS tablets.

"They're like hydration tablets like Lucozade, sports people to use them, but if you’ve got a hangover they’re helpful."

Asked about his state of mind at that time, he answered: "Here it looks like were getting back together, a big high.

"Then when Kate said she didn't want me to take her, a bit low."

Asked how many times during the five to six years he had known Ms Greville had he used language and topics like the ones in the emails - such as a severe four-letter expletive and telling her she didn't deserve to be a parent - Mr Giggs answered: I can only remember that time."


03:07 PM

Mr Giggs admits he doesn't know meaning of 'impetuous'

Mr Daw QC reminded his client that he admitted to the jury yesterday he could be impetuous, when it was put to him by Mr Wright QC.

"Do you know what that word means," Mr Daw QC asked.

Mr Giggs laughed, and said: "Yes."

Mr Daw QC asked: "What does it mean?"

A smiling Mr Giggs said: "You tell me."

Mr Daw QC replied: "No, no it’s not a school test I can assure you. Tell us what you believe it to mean?"

"I’m not too sure," conceded Mr Giggs.


03:02 PM

Online stalking was 'common in our relationship'

We now move onto stalking, and Mr Giggs is reminded of an email in which he told Kate Greville he would “stalk you like mad”.

Mr Daw QC told the court: "And your answer  was 'It’s just a smiley at the end, so', and effectively, that was as much as you had to stay about it."

The court also heard this exchange of messages:

Ryan Giggs: Is your mum going to stalk me now like her daughter does

Kate Greville: She better not

More messages were read out, showing Ms Greville telling Mr Giggs she had seen him online but accusing him of not replying.

Ms Greville referred to it in one message as "I was stalking you".

Asked what that meant, Mr Giggs said: "[She had] just been checking if I was online."

Mr Daw QC said: "What was the significance of that form of activity?"

Mr Giggs said: "It was just common in our relationship."

"What did it mean?" Mr Daw QC asked?

Mr Giggs added: "We were checking up on each other."


02:56 PM

The 'blackmail' email

We come on once again to the blackmail email.

Mr Giggs told Mr Wright QC on Wednesday that it was a joke, but that Ms Greville wasn't let in on it.

Asked by Mr Daw QC what the joke was, Mr Giggs answered: "Because Kate was embarrassed about that video. She was embarrassed that she was dancing like that."

Mr Daw QC asked if this was "to frighten her or give her the impression intimated material", and Mr Giggs answered "no".


02:49 PM

Sharing intimate pictures was common

Mr Giggs yesterday admitted his conduct caused "serious alarm or distress" to Ms Greville.

Asked what he believed he was agreeing to, he answered: "My infidelity. That I'd upset her because of my infidelity."

Mr Daw QC asked: "Did you ever threaten to send an intimate picture of Kate Greville to anyone else?"

"No," Mr Giggs answered.

Mr Daw QC asked: "Have you ever done so?"

"No," Mr Giggs answered, and pressed further he added that it was "common" for them to share intimate pictures of themselves to each other.

Mr Daw QC asked: "To this day have you ever shared any pictures of the two of you to anyone?"

Mr Giggs answered: "No."


02:43 PM

'I was just scared'

The court heard that Mr Giggs was accused by both Greville sisters of headbutting Kate as the police were on their way.

"What had they accused you of?" asked Mr Daw QC.

Mr Giggs added: "That I had headbutted Kate."

Mr Daw QC asked: "Had you done that?"

"No," he answered.

Mr Daw QC asked: "How then did you feel in those circumstances?"

Mr Giggs said: "I was just scared."

Mr Daw continued: "What was in your mind at the time. You hadn’t headbutted her in the face, they were accusing you, and you believed they were going to tell the police that."

The barrister asked his client what the potential consequences were of false allegations being made to the police.

Mr Giggs answered: "I’m not too sure but it just wouldn’t look good."


02:33 PM

999 calls played again

Chris Daw QC, for the defence, played sections of the 999 call to the court during which Mr Giggs can be heard speaking.

In one, Mr Giggs can be saying: "You're f---ing lying", but the defendant said he could not make out what he was saying.

In a second clip, Mr Giggs can be once again heard talking.

Mr Daw QC said that Mr Giggs was saying that "we'd be everywhere", and the defendant said this was in relation to the "newspapers and the media".

A third clip heard Mr Giggs and Emma Greville discussing the police arrival.

Mr Daw QC asked: "Were you at this time angry or aggressive with Kate Greville, Emma Greville or anyone else?

"No," answered Mr Giggs.


02:18 PM

Jury back in

Mr Giggs is stood in the witness box, ready to resume his evidence.


02:05 PM

Trial adjourned

We’ll be back at 2.15pm.


01:15 PM

Cross-examination ends: 'You assaulted her, didn't you?'

Here is how Mr Wright QC (PW) wrapped up his cross-examination of Mr Giggs (RG).

PW: "Do you cherish your phone Mr Giggs?"

RG: "No." 

PW: "Is it something you consider is important to you?"

RG: "No." 

PW: "Depriving her [Kate Greville] of her phone was something that would be felt deeply by her, wasn't it?"

RG: "I don't know." 

PW: "But you decided to take it, didn't you?"

RG: "Yes." 

PW: "You assaulted her, didn't you?"

RG: "No." 

PW: "And you assaulted her sister, didn't you?"

RG: "No." 


01:11 PM

'Why not say it was an accident?'

The court heard how Mr Giggs told the police officer, he had "hit her in the lip" in regard to Ms Greville.

Mr Wright QC asked: "Why not say it was an accident?"

Mr: "I don’t know."

Mr Wright QC asked the defendant why he didn't say he had "caught her lip" or that his face had caught hers.

Mr Giggs said he did not know.

The prosecutor added: "You were saying what had happened, Mr Giggs, because you had assaulted her, hadn't you?"

"No," he answered.


12:53 PM

'There was your opportunity, and you just said "well"'

We move now to police arriving at the house and the bodycam footage from the responding officers.

The officer says, "hi, mate', to which Mr Giggs says, "you okay?".

Mr Wright QC said: "You’re a completely changed man by now, aren’t you?"

"Yes," Mr Giggs replied, adding he did not know why this was.

Mr Wright QC continued: "Why not say, I’m really glad you're here or I'm pleased you're hear because this was the only way this was going to end?

"I don't know," said Mr Giggs.

The court was told when Mr Giggs was asked by an officer "what's been going on?", Mr Wright said: "'Well', and then you don’t say anything. There was your opportunity if you wanted it. But you just said 'well'."


12:47 PM

'Thanks Emma... all losers'

Mr Giggs said that he didn't want the police at his house, and during the 999 call he can be heard saying, 'thanks Emma... all losers'.

Mr Wright QC said: "But there really was only one loser here, wasn't there."

"I don’t know," Mr Giggs.

Asked why he would be a loser, Mr Giggs said he did not know, and Mr Wright said: "I’m going to suggest that you realised what you done, you would be arrested."

"No," the defendant answered.


12:40 PM

Mr Giggs used daughter as 'lever' to try to stop 999 call

Mr Giggs denied that he tried to use "emotional blackmail" to stop Emma Greville from telling the police anything more.

She can be heard saying: "I don’t care if your daughter is 17" as she was on the phone to a call handler, the court heard.

Mr Wright QC said: "You were seeking to stop her reporting it any further to the police, weren’t you?"

"Yes," Mr Giggs said.

Mr Wright added: "And you were seeking to use your daughter as the lever, weren't you?"

"Yes," Mr Giggs said again.


12:37 PM

Mr Giggs tried to stop police complaint, he admits

The jury are now being told about the 999 calls from Emma Greville, during which Mr Giggs and Kate Greville can be heard in the background.

The court heard how Mr Giggs could be heard saying, "You f---ing caused this', to Emma Greville.

Mr Giggs admitted that he was blaming Emma, and asked: "You were trying to stop her, persuade her not to make the complaint, weren't you?

"Yes," Mr Giggs answered.


12:33 PM

Ditching phone was 'an act of stupidity'

Mr Giggs was asked why he disposed of Kate Greville's phone on a gate post in the driveway, and asked if it was to fit his narrative.

"That’s not correct," said Mr Giggs.

"It was stupid, I don’t know why I did it.

Asked if it was "an act of spite" and "control", he said: "No, it was just an act of stupidity."


12:28 PM

Cross-examination continues

Peter Wright QC, for the prosecution, is continuing to cross-examine Ryan Giggs.

We move onto the moment of the headbutt.

Mr Wright QC said: "At that stage this particular dispute ended in violence, didn't it?"

"No," Mr Giggs answered.

Mr Wright QC said: "The reality is you headbutted her, didn't you."

"No," Mr Giggs answered again.

Mr Wright QC added: "Because in this dispute with her you had by that stage completely lost your self-control."

Mr Giggs said: "No."

He also denied threatening to headbutt Emma Greville, the complainant's sister.

Mr Wright QC said Mr Giggs was seeking an alternative narrative in his pre-prepared statement, and when he was asked - as he mentioned in his statement - "you maintain that you were the one being attacked, were you?".

Mr Giggs answered: "No."

"So why did you put it in this statement?" Mr Wright QC asked.

"I don’t know," Mr Giggs answered.