TV auctioneer said wife blamed him for son's death

Television auctioneer Charles Hanson has told a court how his wife blamed him for the death of their baby son.

The 46-year-old 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.

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

He tearfully said: "Every anniversary of when Tommy died, my wife would say to me 'your fault, that hug killed Tommy'."

Mr 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.

Taking the stand, he said: "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 at the time of the alleged assault, Mrs Hanson had been unwell while she was pregnant, and her husband had been diagnosed with cancer.

Mr Hanson said: "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, Mr Hanson, and both their mothers after Tommy's death, in which she told them about the alleged headlock.

Mr 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."

Later in the proceedings, Mr Hanson told the jury his wife acted in a "disturbing" way by "flailing" her fists and said she would call the police after her husband "touched" her shoulder.

Mrs Hanson alleged that on 1 May 2023, her husband pushed her twice in their bedroom "knocking [her] backwards" after she swore at him.

Mr Hanson told the court while giving evidence that his wife swore at him three times before he "touched her shoulder" while she was laying in the bed.

He said: "It was literally just my hand on her shoulder for a split second to get her attention. The force was minimal if anything.

"[Her reaction] was really quite disturbing. My wife sat up on her bottom then just began sort of flailing her hands, her fists, in front of her.

"It was just a really quite frightening reaction because she was almost oblivious to me and punching the fresh air in front of her. I did not feel in any way I was going to be assaulted.

"Then she said 'I'm going to call the police, you have physically abused me'."

The trial continues.

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