Antiques dealer Charles Hanson, on trial for assault, says his wife controlled him and he felt broken during their marriage.
Charles Hanson testified in court. He said he felt broken and controlled by his wife. He is on trial for allegedly assaulting her, and he said she lied in her statements to the police. These statements concern his supposed controlling behavior.
Hanson said his wife controlled him instead. She stopped him from reading or watching TV in bed. Hanson is an antiques dealer known from TV shows like Flog It!. He denies all the charges against him.
The prosecutor questioned Hanson closely on the trial’s ninth day. The prosecutor asked if his wife lied to the police and if she came to court to lie. Hanson said yes, there were many lies. He denied strangling or using a headlock and felt at his wife’s “mercy.” She constantly told him he needed anger management; he felt she controlled him completely.
The prosecutor asked if he always got his way. Hanson said he never did, and he never chose TV shows. His wife would say “lights off” at night and would not talk or say goodnight. She would turn away from his hugs and often claimed he had athlete’s foot to avoid him.
He said he told his wife he would change and asked for a chance to save their marriage. Hanson explained he felt under her control and that she ridiculed him daily. He felt like her slave, tried to appease her, and felt like a coward, acting subservient. His marriage was falling apart, and he would do anything to fix it. He said she took away his self-respect and that he felt broken.
Now, much later, he thinks he should have left, but divorce was not acceptable in his family. Hanson said he never took an anger management course because it was not needed, he stated. The prosecutor suggested his wife told the truth, proposing that she said he grabs her when angry. Hanson denied that this happened at all.
Mrs. Hanson, a 41-year-old radiologist, testified earlier in the trial. She described many incidents during their marriage while they lived on Church Road, mentioning 14 or 15 events.
She said he used a headlock when she was pregnant while carrying their son, Tommy. Sadly, Tommy was stillborn. She stated that he threatened to burn her and threatened her with embers from the fire. The trial is still in progress.