Ryan Giggs called a “team meeting” with his family about how to load the dishwasher after getting “wound up” during the first coronavirus lockdown, a court has heard.
The former Manchester United footballer is on trial accused of assaulting his former partner Kate Greville, as well as controlling and coercive behaviour towards her.
Manchester Crown Court previously heard that Ms Greville moved in with Giggs at his home in Worsley, Greater Manchester, in March 2020 when the first Covid-19 lockdown was announced.
The PR executive said last week during her evidence that lockdown was a period of “living hell” and that there were arguments including one involving loading the dishwasher.
She told the court: “He was making me feel like I was stupid, the way I was loading it.
“I had to do it exactly the way he wanted to do it. That’s just one example of many.”
On Wednesday Giggs said lockdown was “a really happy time from my perspective”, adding that he and Ms Greville would “bicker” but had “no big arguments”.
He said that during the lockdown his daughter and her boyfriend were at the house most of the time, with his son also staying regularly.
It would wind me up because I would have to do it again, so I called a team meeting and just said, 'Everyone, can you please put the tablespoons the right way round'— Ryan Giggs
Asked by his barrister Chris Daw QC whether he was “particularly keen on dishwasher loading technique”, Giggs said the dishwasher was often on three or four times a day due to the number of people staying in the house.
“I would be opening the dishwasher and the tablespoons would be the wrong way round,” he said.
“It would wind me up because I would have to do it again, so I called a team meeting and just said, ‘Everyone, can you please put the tablespoons the right way round’.
“It wasn’t a big argument, it was just how I explained it.”
The former Wales manager, 48, denies using controlling and coercive behaviour against Ms Greville, 38, between August 2017 and November 2020, assaulting her, causing actual bodily harm, and the common assault of her younger sister Emma Greville, 26.
