Finance professor, 51, ‘battered Old Harrovian businessman at his £2m home’
Finance professor, 51, ‘battered Old Harrovian businessman at his £2m home’ after the 77-year-old claimed he had been having an affair with the academic’s 28-year-old girlfriend
Professor Christopher Hennessy, 51, denies decking Robert Titchener-Barrett, 77Court heard Hennessy exploded after hearing older man had slept with his loverTitchener-Barrett said he had a ‘proper affair’ with Fanny Forssell Forsberg, 28But Hennessy refused to believe it and branded claims of the tryst a ‘fantasy’
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A finance professor battered a bloody and bruised Old Harrovian businessman, 77, at his £2m home after he told him he was sleeping with his 28-year-old girlfriend, a court heard.
Professor Christopher Hennessy, 51, was seen banging the front door of sporting hospitality specialist Robert Titchener-Barrett ‘aggressively and angrily,’ the jury were told.
Hennessy, who lectures at the London Business School, has pleaded not guilty to one count of causing actual bodily harm to Mr Titchener-Barrett at the Portobello Road, Notting Hill house on November 2, 2019.
Aldersgate House Nightingale Court heard Mr Titchener-Barrett swear on oath he had a sexual affair with Hennessy’s Swedish-born architect girlfriend Fanny Forssell Forsberg, 28, which the defendant claims is ‘fantasy.’
Hennessy, of Redcliffe Square, West Brompton told police Titchener-Barrett answered his front door with ‘fists clenched’ when the couple arrived to return books, papers and gifts he had given Fanny.
He denies smashing the door, saying Titchener-Barrett answered in a ‘boxer’s stance’ and threw a punch before dragging him into the house in a bear hug, prompting him to hit twice in self-defence.
Robert Titchener-Barrett, above, said he had a ‘proper affair’ with Fanny Forssell Forsberg, 28
Swedish-born architect Fanny Forssell Forsberg, 28, who Hennessy told the court was with him when he went to Mr Titchener-Barrett’s home to return gifts
Professor Christopher Hennessy, 51, denies decking Robert Titchener-Barrett, 77, at house
Oxford-educated Titchener-Barrett, a former fast bowler for Middlesex County Cricket team, told the trial: ‘I was watching international rugby and heard a violent banging on the door. It went on and on, a violent noise, five or six times.
‘It sounded like feet smashing the door and then the door broke down, the lock broke and the assailant came in, the defendant and his girlfriend behind him.
‘I was immediately assailed by a volley of punches to my face and forehead and did not have much time to think before a volley of blows come down on me.
‘It was much more than one punch and I put my hands up to protect my face and forehead and my nose was also quite badly smashed because my hands were apart and he punched through the middle.
‘The blows rained down on me, I think six, before his girlfriend said: ‘Stop’.
‘After the first punch I went back onto the stairs and then the blows continued raining down on me.
‘I was in a state of complete and utter shock.
‘A load of papers I’d given her were all over the floor. There was a huge mess, blood all over the place and he turned and walked out.’
Court heard Hennessy exploded after hearing older man, above, had slept with his lover
Oxford-educated Titchener-Barrett, is a former fast bowler for Middlesex County Cricket team
The former stockbroker attended Brasenose College, Oxford whose alumni include ex-PM David Cameron and Monty Python star Michael Palin.
He also authored cricketing book ‘Eton & Harrow At Lord’s’ chronicling matches between the public schools.
Blood smeared the walls and dripped on the floor of his home and Titchener-Barrett had a nasty 0.5cm split to his bloody and bruised forehead glued shut at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
However, award-winning economist Hennessy, who has a PhD in Economics from Princeton University, says Mr. Titchener-Barrett harassed the couple, sending unwanted texts to Fanny and following her to their nearby home.
Hennessy’s QC Trevor Burke suggested the sexual relationship was ‘fantasy’ but Titchener-Barrett replied: ‘Rubbish. It was a proper affair in all ways.’
He insisted their affair began when he asked her to design a stained glass memorial window for his parents at Christ Church, Kensington.
The jury were read texts Titchener-Barrett sent her, such as: ‘I have been decent and thoughtful about your needs. What do I get in return? Zilch.’
‘Ring me darling’; ‘Still love you lots’; ‘Call me, don’t ignore me. Love you baby’; ‘Where are you darling? Are you alright?’
The QC suggested to Titchener-Barrett: ‘You were threatening this young woman that if she didn’t do exactly what you wanted her to do, you would come to the house and fabricate a relationship of having an affair with her to her husband and that’s exactly what you did.
‘These texts are more threatening and menacing, a fantasy in your mind that this young woman had an interest in you.’
Titchener-Barrett replied: ‘This has nothing to do with the attack that took place on my doorstep. You are creating a lot of red herrings.
‘When you are in a relationship with someone you do have emotional texts.’
One text demanded Fanny visit him or Titchener-Barrett would ‘spill the beans’, but he told the trial: I was jesting. I wasn’t really going to spill the beans to Hennessy that we were having an affair.’
Titchener-Barrett claims the truth of the affair was exposed when he attended the couple’s house to collect the stained glass drawings and Hennessy answered.
‘I told him I am a gentleman where ladies are concerned and I am not going to go into graphic details.’
However, Hennessy says it was a false foul-mouthed allegation by Titchener-Barrett, who told him: ‘I have been f***ing your partner.’
Hennessy is also a former Associate Professor and Finance Area Chair at the Walter A Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and a research fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research.
The trial continues.
