FORMER Warrington Wolves centre Anthony Gelling has been found not guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm on his ex-wife.
Gelling, 30, was arrested and charged back in February 2020 following the incident, which occurred on the same day he played for Warrington against St Helens in a Super League match.
He voluntarily attended a police station two days later and was subsequently suspended by the club, though returned to make a total of 13 appearances before leaving at the end of the season.
The jury took just over four hours to reach their verdict, acquitting the Cook Islands international of the charges.
The court had previously heard that he threw a punch at his then-wife Toni Mackey, which broke bones in her nose and eye socket as well as causing a black eye and cut above her right eyebrow.
During the trial, Gelling said he had acted in ‘self-defence’, explaining that he feared he would be run over by the car Mackey was reversing at their home in Widnes.
He said: “I just panicked, there was a lot of adrenaline. I punched her. I just wanted to stop the car. I thought I was going to be run over.”
The court also heard that Gelling was ‘intense’ on match days, and referred to magnesium and zinc supplements as ‘angry pills’.
They had rowed over breakfast and Gelling wanted to get the pram out of the boot of the car to collect Mackey’s daughter from school, and he had opened the driver’s door to press the button to open the boot.
He later apologised and offered to get her an ambulance, but Mackey refused, and she later took a taxi to Whiston hospital and made a formal complaint the next day.
Gelling, now playing for Leigh Centurions, was supported in court by Wolves head of rugby Kylie Leuluai.
