An ex-girlfriend of Ryan Giggs told a court she lied to the footballer about having a smear test that showed cancerous cells – and admitted staging a photo for a newspaper after he allegedly headbutted her.

Kate Greville said she made the smear test claim in October 2020 so she would not have to have sex with the former Manchester United star, and in fact she was going to get her coil removed.

Giggs is standing trial accused of using controlling and coercive behaviour against Ms Greville between August 2017 and November 2020, as well as assaulting her and her sister Emma.

He denies the charges against him.

Read latest updates from the trial as they happened

Giving evidence for a third day in the trial, Ms Greville told the court she needed a plan to “get away from (Giggs) for good” after she allegedly found evidence of him cheating.

The court heard she messaged Giggs saying: “I had a smear test when you was away and I had cancerous cells. I had to go to hospital on Thursday.”

Cross-examining Ms Greville, Gigg’s defence barrister Chris Daw QC said: “The truth is you were going to have your contraceptive out.”

Ms Greville responded: “I was getting my coil out and I also wanted a STD test.

“I wanted him off my back. I completely regret saying these things but I needed to say something to get him off my back and for him to leave me alone.”

She added: “If I was saying I had cancerous cells then I would not have to have sex with him.”

Mr Daw suggested Ms Greville and Giggs were having “active, regular and very enthusiastic sex” at this time – including after she had the coil removed.

Ms Greville said: “I disagree.”

Mr Daw said: “Your plan was to get pregnant by Mr Giggs.”

“No, absolutely not,” Ms Greville replied.

The court was played police bodycam footage from the night Ms Greville claims she was headbutted by Giggs during an alleged assault on 1 November 2020.

Ms Greville has previously told the jury that Giggs looked her “straight in the eyes” and headbutted her in the face at his home in Worsley following a row at a hotel.

Mr Daw suggested the incident was in fact “your two faces coming together briefly in a very minor form of contact”.

Ms Greville said: “That suggestion is completely false. What happened is he came at me with his arms on my shoulders, looked me straight in the eyes and headbutted me in my lip.”

The witness was asked about an article in The Sun on 16 November 2020.

It featured a photograph of Ms Greville walking along a country lane with her dog, alongside the words “Living hell. Ryan Giggs’s ex spotted with a bruised lip in first outing since Wales manager’s assault arrest”.

The jury was read messages exchanged between Ms Greville and a friend in which Giggs’s ex-girlfriend wrote: “We can set up a pic and get money for both of us. What do you think?”

The friend said: “I think yes.”

Ms Greville wrote back: “We could get 5K.”

Her friend later wrote: “Let’s f****** do it.

“A sofa like Molly-Mae’s would be like 10K.”

Ms Greville responded: “Need to sell some more stories.”

Addressing Ms Greville in court, Mr Daw suggested she was “trying to tell the whole world a completely false story”.

Ms Greville replied: “I was trying to stop the paps turning up my doorstep every day. To take back control.”

She denied that she had “enhanced” the appearance of her injury by using make-up to make it look worse.

But she admitted she did not tell her father that the photo was staged, saying: “I was ashamed at doing it. I didn’t want him to know.”

Breaking down in tears in court, Ms Greville told the jury she did not sell her story and never asked for money.

“It was to stop the press turning up at my doorstep,” she added. “I was scared to go out. I felt trapped and my mum and dad were getting harassed.”

Ms Greville completed her evidence and the trial at Manchester Crown Court was adjourned until Friday.

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