Charlotte Church's boyfriend Gavin Henson out of rugby for six weeks with broken hand - after drunken rampage

12 April 2012

Gavin Henson has admitted he has a broken hand days after he was seen punching a pal in a drinking game on a train.

The 25-year-old boyfriend of singer Charlotte Church - is facing up to six weeks off with the hand injury, which was confirmed after reports emerged he and three male friends played a violent forfeit game on a train.

Henson, was said to have taken part in drinking games and abused other passengers, while one of the men urinated on the carriage floor.

The rugby star's agent Peter Underhill admitted: "Yes he has broken his hand but I don't know how it happened."

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Away win: Henson at Sunday's match before the booze-up

However, witnesses told how Henson took part in a drinking game where he punched his three friends if they lost the card game in the first-class carriage.

One female passenger in the same first-class carriage, a 44-year-old teacher, told how Henson and his friends played raucous drinking games which involved hitting each other in the face.

She said: "They were extremely drunk - they couldn't stand and they absolutely reeked.

"I found them loud and abusive and there were children in there.

"We had nearly two hours of hell. One lady was sobbing when she got off the train. I cried when I got home."

She continued: "I teach in a primary school and we have 30 profoundly disabled children.

"We do an awful lot with sports in the school and we look up to these people. Gavin is a hero to our children.

"How could he behave like this?"

His club apologised over his antics on the train from Paddington to Cardiff, which was met by police.

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Welsh royalty: Gavin Henson (here with Charlotte Church) was one of a group who allegedly abused train passengers

The rugby star - estimated to earn £200,000 a year with his team - showed no sign of the hand injury when he played for the Neath-Swansea Ospreys.

He scored every point in their 19-8 win at Harlequins last Sunday in a man of the match performance and played right to the final whistle.

The Welsh international player had then gone out celebrating in London and after joined three pals for the drunken train journey from London to Cardiff - where they played the punching game.

They were said to have played a card game with a forfeit of drinking one-and-a-half bottles of beer - the penalty for failure being a punch in the face from Henson.

One disgusted passenger said: "Gavin Henson clenched his fist and he hit them in the face. I saw it happen at least once but the boy was happy for him to do it."

Three days later Wales and Ospreys star Henson has been diagnosed with a broken bone in his hand.

Henson - who had left girl friend Charlotte Church at home with their new baby - will miss his club's vital Heineken Cup match match against Ulster tomorrow.

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Gavin Henson became a father in September when girlfriend Charlotte Church gave birth to Ruby at their home in South Wales

And he is likely to be out of action for up to six weeks and will be in a race to get fit for Wales' Six Nations championship matches early next year.

An insider said: "The club are trying to indicate that he must have injured his hand during the game. But that leaves the question over how he could punch his friends on the train.

"It seems too much of a coincidence considering the antics on the train.

"If he had damaged it during the match the hand would have been treated and he would not have been allowed to return to Wales on his own without the rest of the team."

Henson was given permission by club officials to team up with his three pals - all fans of the club - for the trip after the game from Paddington to Cardiff.

His team-mates went back to Wales by coach but, according to witnesses, Henson's party arrived at Paddington for the 7.37pm service to Cardiff already stinking of alcohol and vomit.

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Charlotte Church: Last week Gavin Henson's girlfriend was seen downing pints while she watched him on the field

The Wales star Henson was delighted with his performance after struggling with injury.

He rang Charlotte, 21, back at home with nine-week-old baby Ruby at their country home in St Bride's Major, Vale of Glamorgan, to tell of his joy.

Henson, whose 21-year-old girlfriend was at home with their baby daughter Ruby at their country mansion in the Vale of Glamorgan, was said to have been delighted after being named man of the match for his performance on Sunday following a comeback from injury.

After boarding the train, he and his friends made other passengers give up their seats so they could play cards around a table.

"From the moment they came into the carriage the air turned blue," said the teacher.

"They were getting more and more abusive even though there were children in the carriage.

"They were playing a card game with forfeits. They had to drink one and a half bottles of beer and if they didn't Henson clenched his fist and hit them in the face.

"Another man said he was desperate for a pee and did it on the floor. A lady started speaking to them and they became abusive.

"Then I felt I had to intervene and they began swearing at me. They called one lady a fat b****. It was a litany of abuse."

The passengers called for assistance but were told the train manager did not have the power to take alcohol from Henson and his friends.

Instead, the train crew radioed ahead to ask police to meet Henson at Cardiff Central station just before 10pm.

The teacher said: "I told Henson, 'This will do wonders for your image and the police will be waiting for you when you get off.' This seemed to sober him up a bit."

A spokesman for First Great Western said: "The train manager did what he could and contacted the British Transport Police who spoke to the men involved."

A police spokesman said: "We had a report that a group of men were behaving rowdily on the train from London to Cardiff. It was met on arrival by our officers. All four men are helping police with inquiries."

British Transport Police have made a fresh appeal for witnesses who saw Henson and his friends in drunken yobbishness on the train journey.

The police said the four men are likely to be interviewed again about the allegations of "rowdy behaviour" on the evening train.

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