Lichfield auctioneer and TV star Charles Hanson claims 'wife blamed him for baby’s death'

The wife of TV star Charles Hanson would tell him every year on the anniversary of their son’s death that it was his fault because of a “hug” he gave her, a court has heard.

The 46-year-old, who has an auctioneers in Lichfield, is accused of using violence towards Rebecca Hanson over 10 years, which began in 2012 when he allegedly held her in a headlock while she was five or six months pregnant.

Hanson was charged with controlling or coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and assault by beating after he was arrested at his home in Derbyshire in June 2023.

He told the jury at Derby Crown Court on Friday that their son, who they called Tommy, was stillborn about a month and a half after the alleged headlock incident, which he claims was a hug.

He tearfully told the court: “Every anniversary of when Tommy died my wife would say to me ‘your fault, that hug killed Tommy’.

“I think latterly, as our marriage was sadly winding down, it became more I suppose communicated to me with a bit more of a hardened edge on his anniversary. She would say it was that hug/headlock that killed Tommy.

“I just cried. I would tell my mum and say ‘I can’t believe she would say that hug killed Tommy. How can I marry a lady who thinks like that?’”

The court heard that in 2012 at the time of the alleged assault, Mrs Hanson had been unwell while she was pregnant and her husband had been diagnosed with cancer.

Hanson told the court: “Both of us were panicking. I worried about her and she worried about me, we were both under stress.

“We would have words, I suppose get upset, I think like any other couple. It was the usual standard arguments.”

When asked by Sasha Wass KC, defending, to describe the alleged headlock incident, he told the court: “She threw a cup of sorts. I just said ‘look love, we will be OK’. I forgot what the cup was, I think it was a little pottery cup – it did not smash.

“I quietly walked over to her, put an arm around her shoulders, just my left arm around her shoulders. It was just a hug. She held me.”

The court heard that Mrs Hanson alleged there was a meeting between her, Hanson, and both their mothers after Tommy’s death, in which she told them about the alleged headlock.

Hanson, of Ashbourne Road in Mackworth, Derby, told the court that “there was no such meeting”.

Describing how he believed his mother would react to that accusation, he said: “She would disown me and say you are not the son I thought you were.”

Ms Wass asked the defendant: “Have you ever physically grabbed your wife?”

He replied: “No.”

The trial continues.