Bargain Hunt star Charles Hanson has appeared in court in relation to his trial for allegedly assaulting his estranged wife.
The 46-year-old appeared over a video link in Derby Crown Court for the short hearing on Wednesday, December 4.
The TV auctioneer was told how his defence team has written to the Crown Prosecution Service requesting further information ahead of his trial which is currently listed for February 10, 2025, with a time estimate of seven to 10 days, reports the Derby Telegraph.
Judge Shaun Smith KC told this week’s hearing that “all of the requests the defence has made are reasonable” and he has given the prosecution until 4pm on Wednesday, December 11 to make a decision ahead of another short mention hearing on Thursday, December 12.
He told the defendant: “Mr Hanson you do not need to come to next week’s hearing. I will make sure the defence have all the information they require but if you wish to attend you may.”
The Flog It! star has been charged with controlling and coercive behaviour and assaulting his wife, Rebecca. He pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing on February 7, this year.
The 46-year-old was arrested after police were called to a property in Quarndon in June, 2023. A spokesperson from Derbyshire police previously said: “The force was called to reports of a domestic incident at an address in Church Road, Quarndon, in June. A man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of assault and was released on police bail while enquiries continued.”
The statement added that, on December 14, last year, Hanson was charged with a number of offences. They include one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of assault by beating and engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour.
The charges include:
- Between May 13 and 17, 2020c, at Church Road, Quarndon, Derby, he assaulted (his wife) Rebecca Hanson on several occasions thereby occasioning her actual bodily harm.
- Between December 29, 2015, and June 12, 2023, at Quarndon, Derby, he repeatedly or continuously engaged in behaviour which was controlling or coercive behaviour, namely subjected Rebecca Hanson to numerous unlawful assaults thereby causing her to fear violence on at least two occasions, to whom, at the time of the behaviour, he was personally connected in that he was her husband, that behaviour having a serious effect on her and he knew or ought to have known that the behaviour would have a serious effect on her.
- Two counts of assault by beating from May 21, 2022 and May 1, 2023.
In a statement, Hanson previously told Derbyshire Live that he denies all the charges. He said: “I will be cooperating fully with the investigation and legal process.”
He rose to fame after he qualified as a surveyor in 1999, joining Christie’s ceramics and glass department shortly after. He appeared on BBC’s Bargain Hunt for the first time in 2002 and became the show’s youngest expert aged 25. In 2005, he established his own auctioneering business near Etwall in Derbyshire, subsequently launching Hansons London in 2018.
He was previously handed bail on the conditions that he lives and sleeps each night at his parent’s address in Ashbourne Road, Mackworth, and does not contact his wife directly or indirectly.
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