Former British primary tennis star Anne Keothavong sobbed in courtroom yesterday as she described rape allegations made in opposition to her husband as a ‘sick joke.’
Company lawyer Andrew Bretherton, 49, is on trial {accused} of raping an American lady in his west London flat after the pair shared a date in Could 2008.
Jurors had beforehand heard that he performed the Weapons ‘N Roses tune ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ on his stereo earlier than pinning the girl face down onto his mattress.
However Mrs Keothavong MBE, who met her husband in 2011 and married 4 years later, mentioned Bretherton had ‘by no means been remotely aggressive’ and she or he was in ‘disbelief’ over the claims.
Andrew Bretherton, 49, is on trial at Internal London Crown Court docket {accused} of raping a lady in 2008. The lawyer is married to Britain’s former primary tennis star Anne Keothavong
Anne Keothavong, Captain of Nice Britain appears to be like on within the Girls’s Doubles throughout the Billie Jean King Cup Finals 2022 Group C match in Glasgow, Scotland
‘The Andrew I do know is a implausible particular person, he’s actually is an honest, first rate man who makes me snicker day-after-day, who makes me be ok with myself and a implausible, implausible father and nice husband – he’s very form,’ she advised Internal London Crown Court docket.
She added: ‘He is not an aggressive particular person, this has been so outrageous, he is not an aggressive particular person.
‘What you see is what you get with Andrew, anybody who is aware of Andrew is aware of what particular person he’s, he quietly will get on with every thing, he’s an honest man.
‘The entire thing is ridiculous, he would by no means try this [rape], he has by no means been remotely aggressive.’
The couple have needed to communicate with the college attended by their kids, aged 5 and 7, about shielding them from the hellish results of the excessive profile trial, the courtroom heard.
Andrew Bretherton and Anne Keothavong Wimbledon Tennis Champions Dinner, The Guildhall, London, UK – 15 Jul 2018
Mrs Keothavong continued: ‘I’m nonetheless in absolute disbelief that I’ve to face right here, having to justify something about my husband.
‘To be sincere, when he first advised me about it I truly burst out laughing as a result of I believed it was some sick joke.
‘There may be nothing to the allegations that correlates with this man and his character.’
An ex-girlfriend of Bretherton’s described him as a ‘boring lover’ and a ‘respectful gentleman’ who was not significantly all in favour of intercourse.
The lady, who was in a relationship with the Oxford-educated company finance lawyer for two-and-a-half years, mentioned: ‘While we have been going out he was a really good particular person to take him to my dad and mom, they cherished him. ‘
Simply the 2 of us would take pleasure in fully customary intercourse, it was simple and even boring.’
An ex-girlfriend of Bretherton’s described him as a ‘boring lover’ and a ‘respectful gentleman’ who was not significantly all in favour of intercourse
Bretherton maintains that any sexual contact between him and the alleged sufferer was consensual, and mentioned he has by no means owned a silver boombox as she described nor did he have a CD or tape that featured Welcome to the Jungle.
The alleged sufferer claimed the pair went on 4 dates however Bretherton solely remembers two. He advised the courtroom that when police first rang him to inform him of the allegations he ignored the calls, considering it was a prank.
His lawyer, Sarah Forshaw KC beforehand advised the courtroom sufferer initially inquired a few civil declare in opposition to Bretherton after studying about sexual offences dedicated by Hollywood film mogul Harvey Weinstein a decade after her personal alleged rape.
Within the interview on 15 January 2019, 12 days after he was knowledgeable in regards to the allegation, he advised officers: ‘It could have been consensual, there was completely no method I’d have pressured her to do something she wouldn’t have wished to do.’
Bretherton, who certified at elite legislation agency Slaughter and Could, denies two counts of rape.
The trial continues.
