TV auctioneer Charles Hanson smiled at his parents and gave a thumbs-up gesture from the dock after being cleared of coercive controlling and assaulting his wife Rebecca. The Bargain Hunt and Flog It! star was unanimously cleared at Derby Crown Court on Friday.
He turned to his parents after the jury foreman returned the not guilty verdicts on charges of coercive and controlling behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault by beating following a three-week trial. The celebrity auctioneer’s parents, who were sitting in the front row of the public gallery, wept and hugged their son after he was discharged from the dock.
Judge Martin Hurst thanked the jurors for their care in considering the case. He then told Hanson: “You have been found not guilty.
“That is the end of the case. You will hear no more about it and you are free to go.”
Speaking to reporters following the verdict, Charles Hanson said: “I’m delighted that after a year and a half the truth has finally come out. “I can finally live my life again. I feel this burden has finally been lifted.
“It has been a tormentuous time and all I want now is to readjust to what has been such an ordeal. I am so relieved that this is all over.”