Kate Middleton’s uncle Gary Goldsmith arrested on suspicion of ‘thumping wife in the street after 1am drug row’
KATE Middleton’s uncle was arrested on suspicion of thumping his wife in the street.
A taxi driver said he saw businessman Gary Goldsmith, 52, hit Julie-Ann after she accused him of doing cocaine.
Cabbie Daniel Shepherd said Julie-Ann, 47, was knocked out in the early-hours bust-up outside the couple’s central London home.
Multi-millionaire businessman Gary Goldsmith — younger brother of Kate’s mum Carole — was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault.
His wife, who was allegedly hit in the eye, was taken to hospital by ambulance and treated for her injuries before being discharged.
Cabbie Daniel Shepherd, 28, said he witnessed the drama after driving the couple to their flat in central London following a night at the exclusive Home private members’ club in Portman Square, Marylebone. He said the pair began arguing in his taxi after Julie-Ann accused Goldsmith of snorting cocaine.
The row continued as he dropped them off at their Georgian home shortly before 1.30am. Daniel said: “He was screaming and swearing at her and she slapped him round the face and his glasses fell off.
“He then turned and hit her in the face with a left hook. She fell and cracked her head on the pavement.”
Goldsmith’s arrest will shock the Royal Family, whom he met when Kate wed Prince William in 2011.
Daniel told how he picked up IT recruitment boss Goldsmith and 47- year-old Julie-Ann at around 1.15am after they hailed a cab for their £6, five-minute ride home.
He said: “They seemed to have had a good drink and she was upset with him and saying, ‘I haven’t seen my husband for a week and you go and leave me to do cocaine with your business buddies’.
“She said, ‘Do you think I’m stupid’? He started yelling at her and saying, ‘You’re a dirty whore’.
“He was being rude to me as well and boasting of spending £100 a day on cabs. I pulled up at their home, she got out and he paid the fare.
“He then got out and started taking over from her to unlock the front door. That’s when it kicked off.
“She slapped him before he appeared to punch her. I jumped out of the cab and said, ‘You can’t do that’.
GOOD AS GOLD? Who is Gary Goldsmith? Kate Middleton's uncle and 'black sheep' of the family
"I started ringing 999 and he began taking pictures of my cab — saying, ‘I’m going to report you’.”
Daniel said four times-wed Goldsmith, estimated to be worth £30million, then picked up his wife and tried to carry her indoors — only for police and paramedics to arrive.
He went on: “There were two police officers to begin with but they called for reinforcements and a van came. There were six coppers in the end and three paramedics.
“She seemed to have a black eye coming on. She was taken to hospital in an ambulance and the police knocked on the door of the house.
“He came to the door and the police asked me to confirm it was him. They then went inside and took him out soon afterwards in handcuffs.
“They put him in the back of a van and drove him off. I’d no idea who he was at first, then realised he was Kate Middleton’s uncle.”
The Met said: “Police in Westminster were called to an address at 01:24hrs on Friday 13 October following reports of a domestic incident.
“Officers arrested a 52-year-old man on suspicion of domestic assault. He has been taken to a central London police station for questioning. A woman found injured was taken to hospital.”
Goldsmith, who has a daughter from a previous marriage, would have been examined by a doctor in custody before his prints, DNA and a mug shot were taken.
Julie-Ann took her dogs for a walk in Regent’s Park yesterday morning, but declined to comment.
Goldsmith has a colourful past and was caught chopping up lines of cocaine at his Ibiza villa by an undercover journalist in 2009.
He said in an interview four years ago: “People like to think I’m a bad boy. I’m not really.”
The businessman and his wife attended a charity evening at the club on Thursday.
The event, where lots included places on a Kilimanjaro trek, raised money for Last Night A DJ Saved My Life — a charity which helps the dance music industry support children in crisis.
The businessman shared images from the night on social media and, in one selfie, was seen grinning next to a smiling Julie-Ann.
Goldsmith was charged last night with assault by beating. He was bailed to face magistrates on October 31.
How he made his £££s
GARY Goldsmith was an usher at 15 as sister Carole Middleton got wed.
The son of a painter and decorator and grandson of a Durham miner, he worked as an IT operator on leaving shool before joining IT recruitment company Computer Futures.
Within six months he was a director, owned shares and lived in a five-bed house in Maidenhead, Berks, with first wife Miranda Foote.
After the couple split he went on to wed Luan in 1997 and third wife Julia before marrying Julie-Ann.
In 2005, he sold his company shares for £17million and bought a villa in Ibiza. Kate and Wills stayed with him on the party isle in 2006.
