A hedge fund lawyer has been convicted of the assault of a fashion designer after punching him because he moved his partner’s tweed coat during the opera.
Oxford-educated Matthew Feargrieve, 43, hit Ulrich Engler several times on the shoulder during a performance of Wagner’s Siegfried at the Royal Opera House.
The row began after fashion designer Mr Engler moved a coat belonging to Feargrieve’s partner from an empty seat and it ended up on the floor, City of London Magistrates’ Court heard.
Feargrieve insisted he was ‘not a yob in a football stand’ but he was later convicted of common assault despite claiming he was trying to protect his partner.
Oxford-educated Matthew Feargrieve, 43, (pictured today, left outside Westminster Magistrates Court) hit Ulrich Engler (right) several times on the shoulder during a performance of Wagner’s Siegfried at the Royal Opera House
District Judge John Zani said: ‘I was not at the Royal Opera House on the night in question.
‘I have to decide based on the evidence I have heard and the evidence I read.
‘I treat you as a man of good character and a man who did not have the propensity to commit this kind of offences,’ he said.
But Judge Zani said that several independent witnesses had seen Feargrieve throw the punches.
‘This is not a case of one’s man punch is another man’s shove.
‘Your evidence has been consistently that maybe fingertips touched.
‘I accept the evidence from the prosecution witnesses when they say you did punch Mr Engler at least once, maybe twice or three times.’
Charles Shelton, prosecuting, said Feargrieve had taken objection to Mr Engler sitting next to his partner, Catherine Chandler, at a previous performance three days earlier.
Describing the incident on October 7, 2018, the prosecutor said: ‘He thought it was poor form and he was annoyed at Mr Engler for that kind of action.
‘On the night in question he climbed over the seat and removed the coat belonging to Ms Chandler and they objected to that.
The row began after fashion designer Mr Engler (pictured) moved a coat belonging to Feargrieve’s partner from an empty seat and it ended up on the floor, the court heard
‘Mr Feargrieve says he was defending his partner. Even if Mr Feargrieve had a belief he had to attempt to defend her he went over the top.’
Mr Engler, whose clients as a fashion designer include the Countess of Derby, told the court he was attacked within 10 minutes of the beginning of the performance and was left with injuries to his left side.
Giving evidence, he told the court that he had sat on the empty seat next to Feargrieve and his partner in a previous Ring performance three days earlier.
‘I did exactly the same and the couple didn’t object to it,’ he said.
‘I saw the coat on the empty seat so I asked the woman if she wouldn’t mind if I sat next to her like I did three days before.
‘She said yes, she would mind, and then I cordially asked her if she had paid for the empty seat, which she said she had not.’
Mr Engler said that he proceeded to climb over the empty seat and move the coat into Ms Chandler’s lap.
Due to the positioning of the stalls, Mr Engler was sat with his back to the couple, when he heard Ms Chandler say her coat was on the floor, the court heard.
‘The coat must have fallen on the floor, which I couldn’t actually witness,’ he said. ‘I did say to her without turning around ‘I am sorry’.
‘By then the conductor was on, the music started. I received blows on my on my left shoulder.
‘I only then turned around in horror and saw Mr Feargrieve standing up and assaulting me.’
Mr Shelton asked: ‘How had were these blows?’
Mr Engler replied: ‘Very hard. I had never seen anyone looking with so much much anger and horror at me.’
The court heard Feargrieve was leaning over his partner while delivering a ‘constant flow of blows’ on Mr Engler.
He then had a hushed conversation with Ms Chandler and they left ten minutes’ into the performance.
Police arrived and arrested Mr Engler on suspicion of grievous bodily harm over claims he had pushed Ms Chandler and dislocated Feargrieve’s shoulder.
Richard Wagner’s magnum opus Der Ring des Nibelungen takes place over four separate operas which between them take more than 12 hours to perform. Pictured is the Royal Opera House
Mr Engler was banned from the opera following the incident and sent a friend to distribute flyers asking for witnesses.
Lisa Wilding QC, defending, said Feargrieve was defending his partner from Mr Engler and dislocated his arm in the process.
She said Mr Engler threw the coat on the floor and pushed Ms Chandler as she bent down to pick it up.
Ms Wilding said: ‘When she did that, you physically shoved her back. I suggest that the motion of pushing her as she was getting her coat pushed her into Mr Feargrieve.
‘I suggest she went forward again and his arm went behind her and he tried to reach out to you to push you away.’
Mr Engler replied: ‘Nothing of that happened, it’s all fabrication.
‘I put it into the woman’s lap. I never saw the coat on the floor.’
Ms Wilding told the court that Mr Engler made the counter allegation after his arrest due to the impact to his reputation.
She said: ‘You thought you had to do something for damage limitation. You wanted to do something to repair your reputation from your arrest.
‘This whole court hearing is to make good some of the damage from when you were arrested.’
Ms Chandler today told City of London magistrates that Mr Engler had pushed her after throwing her coat to the floor.
She said she did not recognise Wagner-devotee Engler as he climbed from his designated seat in Row B to an empty seat next to her in Row A and claimed Mr Engler threw her coat and bag onto the floor and assaulted her in his bid for a better view.
Ms Chandler told the court: ‘I leaned forward to protect my coat and my bag as soon as I noticed somebody moving into the seat from the row above me.
‘My tweed coat was thrown to the ground together with the assault on my person. It was over a year ago but I fully recall it.
‘He pushed my stomach area with his hands sending me colliding into Matthew.. I was propelled backwards with such force that I knocked into him.
‘I then whispered to Matthew I had been assaulted. I have been brought up not to disturb.
‘Matthew then put his right arm behind my back to ensure that I wasn’t subject to any more pushing and to make sure I was safe.’
Ms Chandler denied claims that Feargrieve had punched Mr Engler with both hands saying she would have noticed it.
She added: ‘I was in shock. I couldn’t believe that this had happened to me.. He had done all this and yet he was staring fixatedly at the stage like nothing had happened.
‘I sat there and thought I couldn’t sit next to this person. I am going to make a complaint.
‘That’s when I decided to leave and Matthew told me he was coming with me because he had a dislocated arm. I must have impacted him Matthew with my left shoulder.
‘It was a double whammy. I had been assaulted and Matthew was in a sizeable amount of pain.’
Mr Engler earlier denied the allegations, saying: ‘It’s all fabrication. I never made contact with her.’
Ms Chandler reported the incident to the Royal Opera House usher and manager as well as the police.
Following the complaints, police arrested Engler on suspicion of grievous bodily harm at around 4pm on October 7 last year and took him to a prison cell where he stayed until 3am the following morning.
Feargrieve dropped the charges two weeks later, but by this time Mr Engler, whose clients reportedly include the Countess of Derby, the Countess of Wessex and Princess Alexandra, was banned from the Royal Opera House.
Responding to Ms Chandler’s claims, he told the court: ‘It’s not in my nature. I have never pushed a woman, or anyone, in my life.’
Feargrieve, from Barnes, southwest London, denied assault by beating.
Richard Wagner’s magnum opus Der Ring des Nibelungen takes place over four separate operas which between them take more than 12 hours to perform.
Last year the Royal Opera House put on the entire Cycle, produced by Keith Warner, with performances of the consecutive operas on almost-consecutive nights to allow patrons to enjoy the entire work.
Feargrieve is the founder of MF Consultancy, an independent legal consultancy providing advice to fund managers and their service providers.
According to the Directors Chambers website he is a ‘corporate and investment funds lawyer of more than 16 years’ standing, during which time he has been a partner in some of the world’s leading law firms.
He practises UK, Cayman Islands, and British Virgin Islands law.’