A TV star accused of assaulting a police officer outside a Redditch McDonald’s was described as a ‘monster’ with ‘Godzilla-like’ tendencies in court.
Huntley Thawe, the handyman on Channel Four’s The Renovation Game, appeared before Redditch Magistrates last Friday on the second day of his trial, accused of two counts of assault on a police officer, resisting an officer and using threatening or abusive words or behaviour.
The 48-year-old, from Kidderminster, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Court heard how he was meeting his estranged wife, Anna Thawe, at McDonald’s on Clews Road in Oakenshaw on April 15 to pick up his children, aged six and eight, when they got into a row about passports.
Taking the witness stand, Mrs Thawe told how her ex used his van to block her car in a parking bay after she refused to hand over their sons’ passports.
She said he became aggressive, repeatedly asking for the passports and began ‘circling the car and trying the door handles’.
“Huntley is a very loud person anyway, but when he gets angry, he’s like Godzilla – a monster,” she added.
“The whole thing was just a huge anger-fest and was something that could have been avoided.
“But I always expect the unexpected with Huntley. I felt threatened – that was why I phoned the police.”
PC Simon Riley, of West Mercia Police, arrived at the restaurant at 12.32pm with his colleague PC Herlihy.
Sarah Hurd, prosecuting, said Mr Thawe was in his van with his children when he was asked multiple times to move his car by the two officers but the defendant was ‘not co-operative’.
As PC Herlihy started to arrest him, Mr Thawe shouted over him, saying: ‘You’re a joke, I’m not under arrest’.”
Mr Thawe was then pepper-sprayed while his children were next to him in the van, and as PC Riley led the children away, PC Herlihy climbed into the van in an attempt to get him from the vehicle and handcuff him.
When another officer arrived, they struggled to get him to the ground.
The father-of-two was reduced to tears as audio and video footage was played which seemed to show the defendant being dragged from the car by three officers and then being hit repeatedly with a baton.
Mr Thawe denied blocking his wife with his van and said: “I did shout at her, because I was annoyed. I’d given her months of notice that I needed the passports and it’s just part of her playing games.
“It’s not a mature approach to take, but she doesn’t tell me where she’s taking the kids on holiday, why should I tell her?”
He also accused police officers of assaulting him during the struggle.
“The first policeman was alright, but PC Herlihy, the way he spoke to me, the way he looked at me – I had had enough.
“But I would never hit a police officer.
“I looked round and there was a copper round the side of the car. Another one then punched me in the face.
“I said ‘Why are you punching me in the face?’
“I couldn’t open my eyes after the first pepper spray, it was so painful. I couldn’t open my eyes for two hours after.”
Mr Thawe and his ex-wife met later that evening, in a pub car park in Bromsgrove, where the passports were handed over.
Mr Thawe was released on unconditional bail and the trial will continue on September 28.
