Billionaire art dealer’s son, 31, banged girlfriend’s head against wall

The son of a billionaire art dealer banged his girlfriend’s head against the wall of his multi-million pound apartment during a drunken row, a court heard yesterday.

Joseph Nahmad, 31, carried out a ‘considerable beating’ on partner Georgia Barry at his home in the luxurious The Knightsbridge Apartments building in London.

Nahmad, who is the latest generation of a family who made their fortune in impressionist and modern art, admitted assaulting her last October and this March.  

Joseph Nahmad (elft, pictured yesterday) carried out a ‘considerable beating’ on partner Georgia Barry (right)

He pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to attacking Ms Barry, causing her actual bodily harm on October 27 last year and March 8 this year at his flat.

Nahmad pleaded not guilty to similarly inflicting actual bodily harm at elite celebrity hotspot Tape London in Mayfair between January 31 and February 15 this year. 

John Fairhead, prosecuting, said the victim insisted Nahmad armed himself and brandished a knife during the second attack.

The attack happened at Nahmad’s home in the luxurious The Knightsbridge Apartments building in London

Ms Barry told police: ‘He picked up a knife and said: ‘Are you going to say sorry?’ He threw it onto the counter.’

Nahmad has always denied arming himself with a knife during the row and it will not be an issue at sentencing.

‘This is in the context of a considerable beating say the Crown, banging her head against a wall,’ added Mr Fairhead.

‘Both parties drank to excess and she on two occasions says she was tipsy.’

In a statement, Nahmad said: ‘She was in a consensual, loving relationship that at times became toxic.’

The prosecution offered no evidence on the charge relating to Tape London, and Nahmad’s QC William Clegg told the court: ‘There was an incident in a nightclub where a scratch and bruise were sustained. Very minor injuries.

‘The issue in a trial would be did she go for him or did he go for her? She’s at least on two occasions tried to withdraw all three counts.’

The Knightsbridge is a luxury managed enclave of apartments and mews houses, which surrounds an award-winning landscaped garden and include a luxury spa, valet parking and 24-hour concierge.

Nahmad, who once made the Under-30’s Forbes rich list, has a brother called Hillel ‘Helly’ Nahmad, who is also a New York gallery owner, as are two of his cousins.

He is the son of Beirut-born billionaire art dealer Ezra Nahmad. Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC bailed Nahmad until September 2 for a pre-sentence and psychiatric report.