TV auctioneer cleared of assaulting wife

TV auctioneer Charles Hanson has been cleared of assaulting his wife and using controlling or coercive behaviour against her.

The Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip expert was found not guilty of coercive control and assault allegations relating to his wife Rebecca Hanson.

On Friday, a jury returned a unanimous not guilty verdict on all counts following a trial at Derby Crown Court.

Mr Hanson, 46, of Ashbourne Road in Mackworth, Derby, had been accused of using violence towards his wife over a 10-year period, including pushing, scratching and grabbing her.

He smiled at his parents and gave a thumbs-up gesture from the dock after the jury foreman returned the not guilty verdicts.

Mr Hanson was accompanied by his parents as he left Derby Crown Court

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 Mr 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."

Jurors deliberated for about four and a half hours before acquitting the antiques expert.

Speaking outside court following the hearing, Mr Hanson said being cleared was "a delight".

'Very impactful'

He added: "[The last 18 months] have been extremely upsetting.

"I've missed my children and quite simply I can now get back to my life, and I relish that.

"I've experienced a long time of upset and I always believed in justice, and here we are today, the sun is shining and I can start my life again.

"[The trial has] been very impactful and I'm very lucky that my parents have stood by me from start to finish. Without my family it would have been a very testing time.

"To anyone who knows me, who's believed in me, who's supported me, who's messaged me, to everybody out there - thank you."

Outside Derby Crown Court on Friday, Mr Hanson thanked his supporters

Mr Hanson had been on trial accused of two assault charges relating to incidents in 2015 and 2023, and a separate charge of controlling and coercive behaviour spanning from 2015 to 2023.

He told his three-week trial that he was "almost a slave" to his wife, who left him "a beaten and broken man" by controlling him and making him subservient to her.

Mrs Hanson claimed he was violent towards her, putting her in a headlock in 2012 while she was pregnant with a baby she later lost, repeatedly "grabbed" her, pushed her twice during a bedroom row, and scratched her as she tried to snatch a mobile phone.

But the jury of seven women and five men cleared Mr Hanson after being invited to consider whether he was "lying to get out of trouble" or if his wife had given an exaggerated account to the court.

He told jurors his wife was allowed "to do what she wanted" but had experienced "moments and episodes" including an incident in which she claimed his legs being crossed amounted to abuse.

Additional reporting by PA Media.