CCTV footage shows the moment Tom Daley’s husband became embroiled in a nightclub spat with BBC presenter Teddy Edwardes where she claimed he ‘grabbed her wrist’ – ending up in a £10k court case which was thrown out by a judge within hours.
The Olympic diver’s husband Dustin Lance Black, 49, was alleged to have grabbed an ‘aggressive’ Ms Edwardes’ wrist causing her to spill her drink over her, but her claims were dismissed on Thursday at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Lawyers for the Oscar-winning screenwriter successfully argued there was no clear evidence Mr Black, who is said to have lost £600,000 due to the case, had ever touched Ms Edwardes’ wrist at the Freedom nightclub in Soho on August 18 last year and that her evidence was inconsistent.
Now video footage shows the row between the two before Mr Black walked out of the venue where Ms Edwardes was partying with her Love Island ex Amber Gill.
The court heard that moments after the video footage Mr Black was punched in the back of the head by Ms Edwardes, resulting in a concussion – for which she received a caution.
On Thursday a judge took the unusual step of dismissing the case before the defence had even begun – deciding at the end of the prosecution evidence there was insufficient evidence any assault occurred.
Dustin Lance Black, left, has been cleared after claims were dismissed as inconsistent and not sufficient to secure a conviction
Oscar-winner Black was accused of ‘twisting’ Teddy Edwardes’ (pictured) wrist to throw a drink over the BBC3 presenter
The footage showed diver Tom Daley attempting to calm Mr Black down
The decision meant that neither Mr Daley or Mr Black had to take to the stand.
CCTV footage played to the court showed Mr Black’s argument with Ms Edwardes at the bar while Ms Gill and Mr Daley looked on in shock.
The video shows the two couples standing in front of the bar as Ms Edwardes and Mr Black appear to argue animatedly.
Mr Daley can be seen appearing to attempt to calm Mr Black down before Mr Black moves his hand towards Ms Edwardes, who dropped the glass she was holding.
Mr Black then immediately walked out of the club.
The judge criticised Ms Edwardes for inconsistencies in her account about the first time she saw the CCTV of the footage – after police officers earlier gave evidence to say the footage was ‘leaked’ – and for posting about the incident on social media platforms before telling the court it was ‘not real life’.
She said: ‘The defence submit that there’s no case to answer.
‘Ms Edwardes said she didn’t see a difference between her drink being spilled and Mr Black grabbing her wrist; that the outcome is the same.
‘But there is a difference. The charge was brought on Mr Black having grabbed her wrist.
Mr Black (centre) could be seen arguing with Ms Edwardes (centre front) in the CCTV footage
The footage then showed Ms Edwardes attempting to follow Mr Black outside the club
‘Grabbing a glass does not amount to an assault. Throwing a drink does amount to an assault – but that’s not what is being alleged here.
‘Ms Edwardes’ account didn’t mention her wrist being grabbed until a very late stage.
‘I didn’t consider her explanations – including that she was angry when she wrote some posts on social media, or that social media is not real life – to be at all constructive.
‘I consider that the evidence, taken at its highest, is such that I cannot convict properly Mr Black of the charge.
‘I therefore dismiss the charge.’
Ms Ciecióra also ordered the Crown to pay towards Mr Black’s legal costs, though an exact figure was not disclosed in court.
She added: ‘(Edwardes) said in her evidence at one point that she could not remember a wrist grab.
‘She then said that she was sure that it did happen – and that was an obvious contradiction.’
It is understood that Mr Black lost £600,000 in revenue due to the case.
Daley, 29, smiled as he and his husband Dustin Lance Black – who he married in 2017 – walked into the building holding drinks
Lawyer for Mr Black Helena Duong had told the judge: ‘Clearly, at the outset, the prosecution had the assault as a grab of Ms Edwardes’ wrist.
‘[Edwardes] is a person who has demonstrated aggression towards [Mr Black] from beginning to end, and someone who has admitted in her own words to having chosen violence.
‘I understand it is quite rare for cases to be stopped at this point, but, in my submission, when you are faced with such unreliable and inconsistent evidence, you can put a stop at this stage.’
She argued Mr Black could not be seen to have touched Ms Edwardes in CCTV footage and that she had lied ‘on a number of occasions’ about what had happened.
Police body warn footage played to the court earlier showed Mr Black calmly explaining what happened in the altercation at Freedom Bar.
Dressed in a white vest and a pink Hawaiian shirt, Mr Black suggests to the officer Ms Edwardes’ group may have become ‘infatuated’ by the celebrity presence of himself and his husband, Mr Daley, but didn’t want their ‘non-famous’ friend there.
In the footage, played to the court, he says: ‘I got hit in the head by a woman.
‘In terms of motivation, we had a friend we invited to the table and she didn’t want him there so I left.
‘They invited us to their table because, I think, they were infatuated with the celebrity; but they didn’t want the non-famous person at the table.
‘I said, ‘You have to stop drinking, you have to stop drinking’. She punched me very hard in the head.’
Ms Edwardes had previously said a man she did not know was making Ms Gill uncomfortable by sitting too close to her, so Edwardes said she went to security staff to ask them to move him to another booth.
Mr Black is said to have then told her she had made him feel ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘humiliated’ as the row kicked off.
She claimed he then twisted her wrist in a ‘very hard, really aggressive’ manner.
The prosecutor said it was an agreed fact that she ‘went after’ Mr Black as he left the scene and punched him in the back of the head.
She got a police caution for the punch.
In a statement released after the assault charge was thrown out Mr Black said: ‘I am pleased that the judge saw the truth today and ruled in my favour.
‘As the evidence has proven, and I have always maintained, I am completely innocent, and in fact was the victim in this case of a serious assault. I am relieved this unfortunate matter is now over.’
Speaking to the press after the hearing, Black, who won an Oscar for best original screenplay for 2008’s Milk, described the judge’s dismissal as a ‘moment of exoneration’.
He said: ‘This case has flown in the face of everything that I am.
‘I am very grateful to the judge for exonerating me.’