Businessman is found not guilty of assaulting Miss Universe finalist girlfriend as jurors break down in tears
Chloe Othen, 34, had claimed defendant Ricky Lawrence, 33, dragged her by her hair and repeatedly bit her after sending her a barrage of abusive messages.
Ms Othen, an Instagram influencer with 284,000 followers, said she feared she would die at Lawrence's £1.5million Knightsbridge apartment in west London.
Lawrence was accused of punching Ms Othen 30 times but was today cleared of assault at Aldersgate House Crown Court in London, having insisted a love rival beat her up.
Lawrence and Ms Othen had been in an 'on and off' relationship for six months between December 2021 and May 2022, the court heard.
He had sent her messages saying, 'You f***ing stupid c**t, you're f***ed now I swear, I will do anything in my power to f***k up the rest of your life, screenshot that', jurors heard.
Giving evidence, Lawrence denied claims he repeatedly bit, kicked and punched the model at his home in the early hours of October 15 2022 - and claimed Hatton Garden jeweller Bora Guccuk, 41, was responsible for Ms Othen's injuries.
Lawrence, who runs Lawrence & Winslade bespoke tailors in Knightsbridge, denied and was cleared of assault causing actual bodily harm after an eight-day retrial.
Some of the jurors were in tears after they acquitted Lawrence following five hours and 12 minutes of deliberations.
Model and Instagram influencer Chloe Othen (above) had told a court she thought she would die after saying Lawrence 'beat the cr*p' out of her - he has now been acquitted
Smartly dressed in a grey suit, bearded Lawrence appeared emotional as the unanimous verdict was announced as he looked over to supporters at the back of the courtroom.
Mr Guccuk recently stood trial at Oxford Crown Court for converting or transferring criminal property following the theft of an 18-carat 'Bog of Gold' from Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
He denied any knowledge of the theft of the glittering lavatory pan stolen by Jimmy Sheen, 40, and Michael Jones, 38 - and was cleared of the charge by a jury in March.
At Lawrence's trial, Ms Othen gave evidence from behind a screen as she described their relationship as 'narcissistic', adding: 'You are addicted to the highs and lows - it is euphoric.'
Ms Othen, a finalist in Miss Universe GB in 2015, said Lawrence beat her up and pinned her down, as she told the court: 'I genuinely thought I'm going to die.'
She added that the attack left her with six bite marks and as a result she needed a 'tetanus shot and antibiotics.'
Ms Othen confirmed that she fell pregnant by Lawrence but had an abortion.
She described her on-off boyfriend as 'crazy' and said he even pursued her while she was at the Cannes film festival and at the Greek island of Mykonos with friends.
She added: 'When you are in a narcissistic relationship it's very hard to get out of. They tell you they are obsessed with you, that they love you - you just feel special.
'I didn't understand it completely until I saw a therapist about it.'
She said that when Lawrence started sending her abusive messages on the night of the alleged assault she tried to not allow them to affect her.
She said: 'I tried to just have a method where I don't let it affect me - I'll just stay calm, be like whatever. I asked him if he was drunk - he said he was sober.'
Ms Othen said she initially had not wanted to go to his flat because she was 'genuinely scared to go there'.
She told the court: 'It is not the first time it had happened. He had spat at me, kicked me. But never on the level that happened in October. I never foresaw that.
'When I got to his flat I walked in and sat down and spoke to him. I saw the look in his eyes and I saw they were black.
'I genuinely thought I was going to die - I genuinely on my life thought that. He stole my phone. He grabbed me, put me in a bear hug and then just punched me and thumped me.'
She said that her phone then rang and Lawrence answered it, as she said: 'It was ringing, ringing. When he answered it he had already started beating me up.'
'I screamed, "Please call the police, Ricky's going to kill me". He punched me numerous times, kicked me, strangled me.'
She said that she went to a window and tried to catch the attention of a member of the public and 'signalled to a passerby to come and help me'.
She told the court that one of the bites on her neck had become septic and that she had seen a private doctor and had to have antibiotics.
Ms Othen insisted it was Lawrence and no one else who caused her injuries, saying: 'When I arrived at the hotel my friend saw me battered and bruised completely.
'There is no way that in seven minutes anyone else could have done that to me. The only person who did those injuries to me was Ricky Lawrence.'
Following his arrest, Lawrence had wept and said: 'This is ridiculous. She's ruining my life. I asked her to leave.'
Lawrence later gave police a prepared statement in which he confirmed his relationship with Ms Othen began in January 2022 and ended four months later 'because she aborted my child.'
He added: 'She had been drinking quite heavily throughout the relationship. I no longer wished to be with her.
'Since the end of our relationship she has initiated contact with me and has met up with me.'
Lawrence insisted that Ms Othen turned up at his home on October 15 2022, saying: 'I told her to leave - I didn't want any trouble with her or her partner.
'I repeatedly told her to leave. She began to scratch and hit at me.'
Lawrence said he received a lengthy scratch on his abdomen, adding: 'I didn't use unlawful violence against her.
'I believe the allegations are malicious as she didn't want to end her current relationship.'
Giving evidence in court, Lawrence claimed Ms Othen had confided in him that Mr Guccuk was violent towards her - and that at one point he had seen Ms Othen with a red mark on her face.
He added: 'She had a mark on the side of her face. It looked like a footprint. It was a round mark. It was a red round mark.
'She always described the relationship as violent. She said he used to beat her up, things of that nature.'
Asked by Tom Wyatt, defending, whether he had ever bitten anyone, Lawrence replied: 'Absolutely not. I'd never even had a fight'.
Francesca Allen, 28, who appeared on series five of Love Island, dated Lawrence in 2018 and wrote a character statement as part of his defence.
She said: 'As a boyfriend Lawrence was very kind. He always wanted to do things for me, he always wanted to do fun things together.
'He has a lovely close relationship with his parents and grandparents and I could tell he wanted that same relationship with a partner.
'I've never known Ricky to aggressive he would never shout back at me, he would always calm me down.
'I've never seen him be violent towards anybody and this wouldn't change if he was drinking. He is just always happy. I've never seen him let things get him down.'
In his closing speech, Mr Wyatt told jurors it was a case of 'one word against another' - and said that if Ms Othen had been assaulted for up to an hour by Lawrence, as she claimed, 'it would be a case of grievous bodily harm, perhaps attempted murder'.
Mr Wyatt added: 'She seems to live an extremely high end lifestyle. Her career seems to be going out to put it on Instagram. Bora was funding her lifestyle.'
The defence lawyer said no one was suggesting Ms Othen was not assaulted but claimed Mr Guccuk was responsible for her injuries.
Mr Wyatt added: 'She couldn't risk losing the man who paid for her lifestyle.'
Lawrence, of Knightsbridge, denied and was cleared of assault causing actual bodily harm.
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