TV auctioneer said wife left him beaten and broken

Television auctioneer Charles Hanson has told a court his wife left him "a beaten and broken man" by controlling him and making him subservient to her.

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.

Giving evidence at his trial at Derby Crown Court on Monday, he claimed he was "almost a slave" to his wife, who he said was allowed "to do what she wanted".

Mr Hanson, of Ashbourne Road in Mackworth, Derby, denies controlling or coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and assault by beating, charges brought after he was arrested in June 2023.

His trial has heard he is accused of using violence towards Mrs Hanson, including pushing, scratching and grabbing her.

During his second day of evidence to the court, Mr Hanson denied trying to portray his wife as being mentally ill - saying she experienced "moments and episodes", including an incident in which she claimed his legs being crossed amounted to abuse.

Under cross-examination from prosecutor Stephen Kemp, Mr Hanson told jurors he had a stammer as a young boy and that he is "actually a very nervous man" whose "facade" might suggest he is more confident than he really is.

Questioned as to why he sent messages to his wife, including one conceding he had a bad temper, Mr Hanson claimed he had "literally tapped every word she wanted to hear" about "lost temper, anger management and 'completely my fault'".

Asserting that the messages were "not the truth" but instead an attempt to tell his wife what she wanted to hear, Mr Hanson told the court: "I was under the control of Rebecca. She completely ridiculed me, told me that I was rubbish every day.

"I just felt almost a slave to her, and I had no option, Mr Kemp, but just almost, in a way, to adopt what she was saying and to appease her.

"And I tried it over and over. And I, in a way, was a coward. I was subservient under her - just controlled by her.

"It was my life and it was awful. My marriage was just falling apart, and I would do almost anything to try and save it.

"I know it sounds awful but I was a beaten and broken man.

"Speaking here now, I think, why didn't I stand up? I just stayed, because as a child, my family's belief was, you don't get divorced in life."

The trial continues.

Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.