Movie Couple Blame Each Other For Boozy Birthday Party Brawl

Birthday Bash: Catherine Quantschnigg

A film industry couple inflicted injuries on each other during a late-night drunken birthday party brawl outside their luxury £2.6m home, a court heard.

The evening turned sour when film financier Gregory Browne, 49, and movie executive Catherine Quantschnigg, 42, began rowing violently in front of thirty guests.

One invitee was pushed down the stairs of the six-bedroom Edwardian house by Browne, receiving a cut to his ear, when the host found him wandering around the first floor.

Police arrested the couple, who have a four year-old daughter, in the early hours of October 11, last year at the house in Kitson Road, Barnes with each accusing the other of assault.

Catherine was earlier cleared of assault when Browne did not appear for her trial and on Thursday he was found not guilty at Wimbledon Magistrates Court of assaulting her.

The incident finally brought an end to their turbulent five-year on-off relationship, which they had tried to save when moving into the £6,000 a month property a month before.

“It was my birthday and house-warming party for around thirty guests and my parents flew over from Austria,” said Catherine, who is Head of Sales for Cornerstone films - makers of recent Amy Winehouse bio ‘Amy’.

£2K Booze Bill: Gregory Browne

She is the former vice-president of international sales for Goldcrest Films and the ex-president of Hollywood film distributor IM Global.

“I was outside saying goodbye to some guests when I heard a really loud noise from inside. The sound of someone being thrown down the stairs and screaming.

“My friend Ramin was bleeding from the ear, he broke a finger and went to hospital. There was blood everywhere.

“Ramin said: ‘Your boyfriend is insane. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.’

“He was very aggressive and very drunk and I believe also on drugs, it was very scary.”

Browne does not deny his push caused the guest’s fall, but insists he was not bleeding heavily and that Catherine exaggerated the injuries.

She told the court Browne violently blocked her from returning inside. “He held my wrists, grabbed me and threw me out.

“He pushed me and kicked me and I fell down the steps at the front of the house. My arm was black and blue and my knee was bruised.”

Browne, who helped finance Robert de Niro and John Travolta’s ‘Killing Season’ told the court Catherine bit a chunk out of his left hand, bit his arm and kicked him in the back with her stiletto heel, causing a fracture to one of his vertebrae.

He told the court she had been knocking back strong cocktails and was speaking intimately with ‘Ramin’ and a hedge fund manager for most of the evening.

Guest Plunged Down Stairs

Browne, who had bought £2,000 worth of alcohol for the event, approached the men and told them: “Enjoy my house, enjoy my party and it looks like my girlfriend as well.”

This sent her into a “violent rage” said Browne and she followed him outside. “I heard Catherine screaming abuse and she launched into me with punches and kicks.

“I pushed her away with my foot and turned and then felt a thud to my back. When I grabbed hold of her she bit a chunk out of my arm.”

Browne went upstairs and found ‘Ramin’ emerge from his daughter’s empty bedroom. “I said: ‘What the f*** are you doing?’ and he started mouthing off.

Couple Brawled At Front Door

“I said: ‘Get the f*** out’ and pushed him and he slipped and went down the stairs.”

He then tried to block Catherine entering the house. “I grabbed her and pushed her. She was standing on the steps in high heels and fell backwards.

“She’s not a small girl. She packs a punch and takes a big bite.”

Guest Maxine Henshilwood, 48, backed-up Browne’s account of being attacked by Catherine. “Kung Fu Panda comes past, arms flailing.

“She’s kicking and punching him. Then she went to hit me and attacked him again.”

Browne called 999 to complain he had been assaulted and when police arrived he flagged down their car, saying: “I’m the victim here. Don’t judge me yet.”

Mr. Tony Wyatt, defending, told the court: “This is a woman that will do anything and say anything to get herself out of trouble and see Mr. Browne convicted.”

The magistrates found Browne not guilty and chairman Mr. Gordon Lawson announced: “We did not find Miss Quantschnigg to be a credible and reliable witness.”