Hann not guilty of 'crazed animal' sex assaults

Snooker star Quinten Hann was found not guilty today of groping and attacking a singer and an actress at his home.

The women, who met him at a West End nightclub, claimed that he behaved like a “crazed animal” and said they thought they were going to die.

One of them alleged she was struck repeatedly as she lay on the ground, and left bloodied, bruised and holding a “shattered” tooth.

But Hann, a 6ft 4ins former male model, told London’s Isleworth Crown Court he was the victim of a litany of lies.

He also branded the 32-year-old singer – said to have been the most seriously injured – as a “kiss and teller” after she was paid £1,000 (almost €1,500) for her story by a national newspaper.

The three-man, nine-woman jury took three-and-a-half hours to decide he was innocent and clear him of two counts of sexual assault, one of causing actual bodily harm, and one of common assault on August 29 last year.

He sighed with relief and nodded his thanks to the jurors, who had not been told he was cleared by an Old Bailey jury in 2002 of raping a student in London’s Savoy Hotel.

The five-day trial heard Hann, 27, had been relaxing in the VIP lounge at Chinawhites nightclub – as famous for its wealthy clientele as the kiss and tell headlines it generates – when a mutual friend introduced the two women to him.

On the way back to his apartment in Uxbridge Road, Ealing, west London, the player, currently ranked 22nd in the world, made it clear to the 18-year-old actress he found her attractive.

But he said that when she rejected his advances, he accepted the situation.

His alleged victims told a different story.

They said that once inside his flat, the snooker star, by now bare-chested and increasingly “rude, loudmouthed and boorish”, first lunged at the actress’s crotch before shoving a TV remote control between the singer’s legs.

The women also told the jury that as they left, a “snarling, spitting” Hann charged them like a “crazed animal”.

After allegedly punching the actress in the ear, he was said to have grabbed hold of the singer, slammed her against the wall, hurled her to the floor, dragged her along the carpeted corridor and then subjected her to a barrage of kicks and punches.

She claimed one of her teeth was knocked out in the process.

But the Crown accepted her evidence had been somewhat “undermined” after she was shown to have lied on oath.

First, she claimed she was still suffering a swollen ankle as a result of her alleged ordeal. A doctor called to the court to examine her said he could find no evidence of anything wrong.

She also denied being paid £1,000 for her story. But one of her friends, called by the defence, said the national newspaper concerned sent the money to her because the singer did not have a bank account.

Hann said the women’s deceit was responsible for him being in the dock.

He admitted he had chased the singer from his apartment, but only to retrieve his front door key which she had stolen.

The player explained that in the ensuing struggle he grabbed her handbag and took it back.

But he denied striking her, explaining his mother had always taught him never to raise a hand to a woman.

He added that he regretted the woman had been hurt and could only suggest she had somehow sustained injuries as they struggled.