A whiskey dealer accused of punching a Miss Universe finalist 30 times after an argument told a court it was “impossible” he hit her because there were no marks on his hands.
Ricky Lawrence, 32, is said to have hit his ex-girlfriend Chloe Othen thirty times in the head, strangled her and dragged her across the ground by her hair in the early hours of October 15, 2022, after a text argument.
Miss Othen, 33, an Instagram influencer with 305,000 followers, said she feared she would die after Lawrence allegedly grabbed two knives and threatened to slit her throat at his £1.5million apartment.
Lawrence is also accused of biting Miss Othen, taking her phone and preventing her from leaving his flat in Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge.
Giving evidence today, Lawrence told jurors that he had not kidnapped Miss Othen as she had claimed, and instead told her then partner Bora Guccuk: ‘There is no kidnapping, this is my address. If you come pick her up, she won’t leave.’
Lawrence said there was “no way” he bit Miss Othen and allegations he punched her were “impossible” because he had no marks on his hands.
Chloe Othen, 33, an Instagram influencer with 305,000 followers, said she feared she was going to die after ex-boyfriend Ricky Lawrence allegedly grabbed two knives and threatened to slit her throat at his £1.5million apartment
Miss Othen’s then partner, Bora Guccuk, 39, called her while she was in the apartment, but Lawrence picked up the phone and allegedly threatened to kill him.
Ricky Lawrence, 32, pictured outside Nightingale Crown Court at the Grand Connaught Rooms, Holborn, where he is on trial for assaulting Instagram star Chloe Othen
He said he did not use physical force against her, but instead repeatedly asked her to leave the premises.
Lawrence and Miss Othen had been in an “on and off” relationship between December 2021 and May 2022 before it ended “very abruptly”, jurors heard.
He told Nightingale Crown Court at the Grand Connaught Rooms, Holborn, that his relationship with Miss Othen had been ‘nothing but trouble for six months’.
He said he and Miss Othen met regularly and slept together numerous times between May and October 15, 2022, despite her being in a “monetary relationship” with Mr Guccuk.
Lawrence said he and Miss Othen exchanged messages between midday and 2.30pm on October 14 before meeting up that evening at 5.30pm.
Miss Othen canceled and Lawrence then heard from her around midnight, he said, after which they spoke every half hour until the early hours of October 15.
Lawrence said he was going to tell Mr. Gaccuk that he and Miss Othen were having an affair.
He told the court he woke up at around 5.45am and immediately opened the door for Miss Othen.
Asked about Miss Othen’s condition at the time, Lawrence said she was “obviously very drunk, or doing something else” and was “guzzling.”
Lawrence said he answered Miss Othen’s phone, which she had placed on the coffee table, after seeing that it was Mr. Guccuk calling “to tell him she was at my house.”
He alleged that Miss Othen then “panicked and started saying, ‘He’s kidnapped me’ while he was still on the phone, and that he put the phone back on the table as soon as the brief conversation ended.”
Miss Othen claims Lawrence answered the phone and threatened to kill Mr Gucciuk.
Lawrence denied allegations that he threatened to kill or stab Miss Othen or Mr Guccuk in the neck.
The defendant said that after having “the same, repeated conversation” with Miss Othen, he “picked her up and held her almost like a baby” and took her to the front door, again asking her to leave.
Miss Othen re-entered the flat but eventually left of her own accord, Lawrence said, and he heard nothing else until around 12.30pm later that day when police arrived at the property.
The jury were then shown the WhatsApp messages exchanged between Lawrence and Miss Othen from 4.17am on October 15.
The messages said: ‘You fuck tonight, look what I’m doing now you silly bastard.’
He added, “You fucking stupid bastard, you’re damned, now I swear I’ll do everything in my power to ruin the rest of your life, screenshot that.”
Referring to the “Screenshot that” portion of a message, Lawrence said, “She deleted messages so I couldn’t forward them to anyone else.”
Miss Othen was a finalist in Miss Universe GB in 2015 and has over 300,000 followers on Instagram
Chloe Othen, 33, (pictured) has said Ricky Lawrence, 32, pulled her hair and bit her repeatedly in an hours-long frenzy after sending her a barrage of abusive messages
He told jurors that Miss Othen regularly made accusations of stalking against him, which he denied in court, adding: ‘Wherever I was, she seemed to be.’
Defense attorney Tony Wyatt asked what Miss Othen had said to Lawrence about her previous boyfriend, Mr. Guccuk, to which Lawrence replied, “She told me she had been in an abusive relationship several times.”
Lawrence claimed that when he picked up Miss Othen from Mr Guccuk’s home around April 2022, she had ‘a mark on the side of her face’.
Tony Wyatt, defending Lawrence, also asked: “How often would (seeing each other) lead to you having sex?”
Lawrence replied, “More often than not.”
Mr. Wyatt asked: “We have heard the relationship described as toxic by (Ms. Othen’s boyfriend) Alex Ivanovic; do you agree?’
Lawrence said: ‘Oh yes absolutely,’
Mr. Wyatt asked him, “Looking back, did you actually like each other?”
Lawrence replied, “Looking back on it, no, it was nothing but trouble in those six months of my life.”
The lawyer asked, “Why did you send those messages?”
Lawrence responded, “When you had the few months where it was said you were having a child, you didn’t have a child, you took clients and were rejected repeatedly, while you’ve had all that, your language becomes more colorful than normal.”
“Were you drunk when you sent that?” Mr. Wyatt asked.
“No,” Laurens replied.
“It’s all going public now, what were you talking about?” Mr. Wyatt asked.
Lawrence replied, “Our affair and Bora finds out.”
“She knew that’s what I meant since I threatened it the week before.”
‘Miss Othen said you bit her. Is there any truth in that?’ Mr. Wyatt asked
“Absolutely not,” Lawrence said.
“She has now told us in evidence that you punched her in the face and broke her nose that night and that’s why you left,” Mr Wyatt said.
“Absolutely not,” Lawrence replied.
“Did you hear anything related to the allegations before she gave evidence?” Mr. Wyatt asked.
“Absolutely not,” he replied.
Lawrence, of Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge, denies assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The process continues.