Masked men attack cars outside Ryan Giggs’ home
Six cars belonging to press photographers were vandalised and had their tyres slashed outside the home of Ryan Giggs by masked men.
Several men wearing balaclavas burst out of a white Transit van and attacked the cars, slashing tyres and pelting them with eggs before fleeing the scene.
None of the photographers were injured.
A police statement from the Greater Manchester Police force said that police were called to the home of Ryan and his wife Stacey Giggs (pictured left) in Worsley, Greater Manchester at 3.20pm today.
They said:
“Officers attended and discovered at least six cars had been vandalised after a group of offenders arrived in a Ford Transit van and attacked the vehicles.
“Inquiries are continuing.
“Anyone with information can call police on 0161 872 5050.”
Ryan Giggs has been the centre of media attention since he was named in the House of Commons on Monday as a married footballer alleged to have had extra-marital affair with the model Imogen Thomas.
Meanwhile Alex Ferguson attempted to give the proverbial red card to a reporter who dared ask about Ryan Giggs at a Manchester United training event this morning.
Cameras caught him asking an aide to ban him from the next press conference.
Sir Alex was filmed saying “ban him on Friday” after Associated Press reporter Rob Harris asked how important Giggs was for Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona.
Lou Ferrara, AP managing editor for sport, said: “Rob was doing his job as a journalist by asking a question. Our expectation is that he’ll ask more questions, and be afforded the ability to do so, as he covers the world’s most popular sport.”
Earlier, Imogen Thomas’s publicist, Max Clifford, said that the model had not intended to sell her story, and without the injunction “we wouldn’t know what had been going on”.
He said: “She came to me because she wanted to make sure the story didn’t come out, and I told her, phone Ryan Giggs and warn him that The Sun are looking into this and knocking on your door because if you don’t talk and Ryan Giggs doesn’t talk, no one will know.
“And that’s the irony of it. If Ryan Giggs hadn’t taken out a super-injunction, probably, we wouldn’t know what had been going on.
“It’s only because of that and of course the fact that, in that super-injunction that he got to protect his privacy and that of his family, he named Imogen, that the whole thing started down that trail that led to it coming out in Parliament yesterday.
“If he hadn’t taken out a super-injunction, no one would probably have known about this relationship.
“Mr Clifford said he hoped the days of celebrities being able to take out injunctions to gag the press were numbered “because it’s only a law that protects the rich”.
Ryan Giggs appears before the Manchester United fans tonight in Gary Neville’s testimonial match in honour of his retirement.
Giggs will join some of footballs greatest players and will be playing alongside the Neville brothers, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney against Juventus.