Bargain Hunt expert Charles Hanson put wife in headlock and assaulted her over 10-year period, court hears

Antiques expert Charles Hanson, known for TV shows including Flog It! and Bargain Hunt, violently attacked and restrained his wife over a 10-year period, in some cases leaving her with physical marks, a court has heard.

Hanson, 46, is charged with controlling or coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and assault by beating. The auctioneer denies all the charges.

The jury at Derby Crown Court was told Hanson began using "sufficient force" against his wife Rebecca Hanson to leave visible marks on some occasions in 2012, about two years after they married.

Opening the prosecution case, Stephen Kemp said that during the first incident, Hanson had "put his arm around her [Mrs Hanson's] neck and then put her into a headlock" during an argument after she threw an empty box on the floor.

Mr Kemp added: "Rebecca does not say she lost consciousness, but she was understandably scared and shocked by what her husband had just done to her. When she spoke to him afterwards, he told her he felt he had to restrain her.

"That is not accepted by either Rebecca Hanson or the prosecution. There was no need for that, and certainly not by means of a headlock... it was the first of many occasions when Mr Hanson would grab hold of his wife, we say, in anger."

The antiques expert, who owns Hansons Auctioneers, was seen shaking his head in court as the jury heard that - over the next 10 years - he would become violent towards his wife "every six months or so".

In 2015, it is alleged that Hanson, from Mackworth, Derby, "gripped her so hard that it left three fingertip bruises on her arm" which "caused her to cry". She took a photograph of bruising to her arm.

On another occasion, the jury was told that during a COVID lockdown in March 2020, Hanson was in a "bad mood" and "threw the landline telephone" at his wife, which hit her leg.

Mrs Hanson wrote in a message to her mother at the time: "Just to let you know that Charles is being pretty nasty to me at the moment."

In May 2022, the couple also had an argument, the court heard. It is alleged Hanson grabbed his wife on this occasion "so forcefully that he left a red mark on her shoulder".

In the same month, the prosecution say he pushed her twice.

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The court was told that in early 2023, Mrs Hanson "reached the stage where she felt she had to leave" and in June 2023, Hanson messaged his wife: "You know I would never hurt you. I can go for sessions for my anger."

Hanson, who was arrested in June 2023, "denied having grabbed, poked or squeezed" his wife.

The trial, which is expected to last up to two weeks, continues.

(c) Sky News 2025: Bargain Hunt expert Charles Hanson put wife in headlock and assaulted her over 10-ye