Bargain Hunt star Charles Hanson put his wife in a headlock and threw a phone at her during a campaign of violence lasting 10 years, a court heard. The TV auctioneer, 46, is accused of attacking his estranged wife Rebecca Hanson at their £1.5 million home in Derbyshire.
Mrs Hanson text her mum saying that she was “tired of being scared of him” after Hanson would use violence against her “every six months”, jurors heard. Hanson, a star on Flog It! and Antiques Roadtrip, is accused of three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of cruelty.
The BBC star is also charged with one count of assault by beating and also a charge of coercive and controlling behaviour. Dressed in a dark grey suit, with a blue shirt and green tie, Hanson went on trial at Derby Crown Court on Monday.Mrs Hanson claims the antiques expert started being violent towards her in 2012, while the coercive and controlling behaviour began in 2015.
The couple wed in 2008 but Mrs Hanson says that the violence started just four years later when Hanson ran at her during an argument and put her in a headlock. The court was told how Hanson, who runs an auction house in Derbyshire, threw a landline phone at Mrs Hanson during a ‘stir-crazy’ lockdown argument where he screamed that the pair would divorce.
A jury of five men and seven women also heard how Mrs Hanson began logging the violent incidents, taking photographs and creating date and time stamps. Opening the case, prosecutor Stephen Kemp said: “The marriage started off happily, as most marriages do.
“However, as time went on, things began to change and Charles Hanson began, on occasion, to use violence against his wife. The first occasion took place in about 2012. Thereafter, Rebecca Hanson estimates that over the next 10 years or so, he would be violent towards her approximately every six months or so.
“The violence was never such that she ever felt that she needed to seek medical attention: she is not alleging she ever suffered any broken bones or the like. Rather, it would usually take the form of Mr Hanson grabbing hold of her and doing so with sufficient force so as to often leave marks on her.
“As a result of these incidents and other strains in the marriage, Rebecca Hanson confided, from time to time, in her own mother and indeed in the defendant’s mother, Gillian Hanson. By early 2023, Rebecca had reached the stage where she felt she had to leave Mr Hanson and she told her Gillian Hanson this.
“Gillian Hanson suggested that they go to marriage counselling. Rebecca agreed and arranged for them both to been by a counsellor at Relate initially, on the 18th of May 2023. Both of them went and spoke with the counsellor. It was after this that the police became involved. The police spoke to first Rebecca herself and took a statement from her on the 15th of June 2023.”
He continued: “The prosecution allege that, in addition to specific occasions when Mr Hanson assaulted is wife, his behaviour was such that it amounted to controlling and coercive behaviour. It was behaviour which was such that it had a serious effect on her because it caused her to fear, on a number of occasions, that Mr Hanson would use violence against her.
“The prosecution say that Mr Hanson knew or, at the very least he ought to have known, that his behaviour towards his wife would have this effect.”
Discussing the couples relationship history and the beginning of the assaults, Mr Kemp said: “She will tell you how the marriage started off as a happy one in about 2010. It wasn’t until 2012 that the first occasion of violence took place. She and Mr Hanson had been arguing in their kitchen at home.
“Rebecca Hanson threw an empty box on the floor. It was this that seemed to prompt Mr Hanson to run towards her, put his arm around her neck and then put her into a headlock. He held his arm around her neck, under her chin from behind her, for a few seconds before just letting go. Rebecca did not lose consciousness, but she was understandably scared and shocked by what her husband had just done to her.
“When she spoke to him afterwards, he told her he felt he had to restrain her. That is not accepted by either Rebecca Hanson or the prosecution: there was no need to restrain her at all, and certainly not by means of a headlock. It seems that nothing more was done about this incident, but it was the first of many occasions when Mr Hanson would grab hold of his wife, we say, in anger.”
Mr Kemp told the court how Hanson had grabbed his wife’s arm and left bruises during one assault in 2015. H e added: “Mr Hanson grabbed Rebecca and gripped her arm hard, holding on for a few seconds.
“He gripped her so hard that it left three fingertip bruises on her arm. He really hurt her and caused her to cry. She was shocked that despite wearing a thick woolly jumper, Mr Hanson had nevertheless used sufficient force in his grip, through the jumper, so as to inflict these bruises on her.
“She was so upset by what had happened she called her father. She said she was too scared to call the police. But she did take a photograph in a mirror of the injury to her arm shortly after this incident and then she took another a few days later when the bruising had come out.She hid these photographs in the house so Mr Hanson could not see them.
“On the 24th of March 2020, the second day of the first Covid lockdown, the two were having an argument and it seems Mr Hanson was in a bad mood. During the argument he threw the landline telephone at Rebecca, which hit her leg.
“That same day, the 24th of March 2020 Rebecca sent a message to her mother Jacqueline Ludlum saying: “He’s just thrown the phone at me and it’s hit me on the leg. He’s yelling he will divorce me, don’t call.”
The jury were then shown images of bruising and marks on Mrs Hanson allegedly caused by Charles. Mr Kemp continued: “It got to the stage that by April 2021 Rebecca started to write down the dates of various incidents that took place.
“You will see the notes that she made from that time onwards. On 21st May 2022 the Hanson’s had an argument because Mr Hanson did not like the layout of the kitchen and this led to him yelling at her that he was going to divorce her.
“He then grabbed her right shoulder so forcefully that he left a red mark on her shoulder. Again, she later took a photograph of this and sent it to her mother to show her what he had done to her.She also sent a message to her mother saying: “He’s just blown and grabbed my right shoulder.”
“In November 2022, again in the kitchen, the pair were arguing over something. Mr Hanson looked angry. Rebecca was holding some milk when Mr Hanson grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard and would not let go. This caused milk to be spilt over the floor.”
Describing another another alleged attack, Mr Kemp added: “Mr Hanson then came into the bedroom and pushed her. She had to put her hands up to defend herself from him and he pushed her again. It is only when she threatened to call the police that he walked away.”
Text messages sent by Hanson to Mrs Hanson were also read to the jury in which he claimed he had only “prodded” her. One said: “It was a prod and I then pushed you back as you reacted and swung at me. I pushed you back on the bed as you lay since I was angry. This is the fact. I feel lousy too and it made two of us.”
In other texts, Mrs Hanson told her husband: “I was protecting myself with my hands!!! I thought when you came in so threatening you were going to hit me! I’m allowed to protect myself after I’ve been pushed backwards twice.”
In another message, she replies “Then don’t chuck your wife around” after Hanson had pleaded for the couple to stay together. Mr Kemp added: “These are specific instances which Rebecca Hanson recalls where she says her husband used force against her, although there were other occasions too.
“She is able to put dates to a number of the events I have outlined either because she has noted the incident down at the time or because the date that she took the various photographs has been recorded when the photographs were taken.”
Hanson denies the charges and the trial continues.