Kuwaiti model Rawan Bin Hussain has denied assaulting and stalking her former husband.
The social media influencer’s legal team pleaded not guilty to charges of assault, stalking and criminal damage on her behalf at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
The court heard Ms Hussain was unable to travel to the UK from Dubai to attend the plea hearing because she recently tested positive for Covid-19.
A warrant had been out for her arrest for failing to attend court in October but that has now been dropped.
The 23-year-old is accused of assaulting Libyan businessman Mohammed Youssef Migariaf in London’s Hyde Park in June.
Ms Hussain, who was nicknamed the “Brooke Shields of Kuwait” while she lived in Los Angeles, recently visited the Maldives.
She told her five million Instagram followers on November 22 that she was displaying Covid-19 symptoms before returning to Dubai but a test came back negative. Another test returned a positive result, she said.
“I’ve been self-isolated at home since then. None of this makes any sense, but it is what it is!” she wrote.
The magistrate was presented with a copy of Ms Hussain’s positive test result on Friday, and she remains on conditional bail ahead of her trial on January 6.
