Melissa George accused of trying to flee France with kids in private jet after fight

AUSTRALIAN actress Melissa George’s ex-lover has made explosive claims, accusing her of attempting to flee France in a private jet with their children.

EXCLUSIVE

AUSTRALIAN actress Melissa George has been accused by her ex-lover of trying to take their children out of France in a private jet loaned by a Russian friend.

The incident is alleged to have happened on September 13, days after Ms George was treated in hospital for injuries sustained in a fight with her then multi-millionaire businessman partner Jean-David Blanc.

Further, it can be revealed that both Mr Blanc and Ms George were convicted over the bust-up in their palatial Parisian penthouse, with the French court finding each of them guilty of “violences volontaires,” or attacking each other.

They are both appealing against their convictions.

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Actress Melissa George with her children in a Paris park one week after she allegedly tried to flee with them in a private jet. Picture: Splash

Her lawyer, Christophe Ayela, acknowledged to News Corp that Ms George had tried to fly to America with the children but was blocked from doing so.

“Melissa George did not know there was a travel ban concerning the children,” Mr Ayela said.

“She had the plane booked well before the September fight and we can prove it.

“It was a private plane of a female friend.

“She did not know there was a travel ban and was told that by the PAF (border police) at the moment of passport registration that she could not travel with the children.’’

He said Ms George often travelled to New York.

The four-year relationship between the French internet entrepreneur and the award-winning Australian actress has imploded and the pair are sharing custody of their sons, aged just one and three.

Actress Melissa George leaves the 'L'Avenue' restaurant on March 6, 2017 in Paris, France. Picture: Marc Piasecki/GC Images

Mr Blanc’s lawyer, Jacqueline Laffont, alleged to News Corp that on the night of September 13-14, Ms George attempted to take her children out of the country via Le Bourget, a smaller airport favoured by private jet owners near the main Paris airport Charles de Gaulle.

She said the police escorted Ms George and the two little boys from the plane moments before it took off.

“She tried to leave in a private jet lent to her by Russian friends,’’ Ms Laffont said.

“Fortunately her husband was alerted to this. The Police aux Frontieres (border police) intercepted Ms George and her children just as they were about to leave on the plane from Le Bourget airport.

“It is true and proven that Madame George, the two young children and the dog, were intercepted by the PAF (border police) while they were preparing to take off in a private jet from La Bourget airport destined for Los Angeles and Canada,” Ms Laffont said.

“The police had the flight stopped and prevented this departure, which was imminent, despite the fact a legal order to prevent the children leaving the country had been issued.”

Mr Blanc has, through his lawyer, accused Ms George of exaggerating the injuries she received during the altercation on September 7, and claims he acted in self-defence after she became “hysterical.’’

Ms George, through her lawyer, has claimed she was attacked and injured by Mr Blanc and left unable to work due to restrictive custody orders.

Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France. Picture: David Dyson

News Corp spoke to Ms George, 40, in Paris this week when she went to visit her lawyers. She declined to make any comment and asked to be left alone.

Mr Blanc, aged about 48, also declined to comment when he was approached in Paris, saying he didn’t talk to the media, and that News Corp should call his lawyer.

However, Ms George’s lawyer Mr Ayela told News Corp there had previously been no strife in the pair’s relationship and “it was a love story and then it turned to hell.’’

He confirmed both Mr Blanc and Ms George had been convicted by the courts after an explosive row and physical altercation at their apartment on the Place de la Madeleine on September 7.

Mr Blanc spent two nights in custody after Ms George presented at the police station at 3am with physical injuries, which saw her taken to hospital.

She had injuries including bruises on her face, while Mr Blanc had scratches on his face and torso.

Melissa George's former husband Jean David Blanc pictured, in Paris, with one of his children. Picture: KCS Presse

The case first went to court in October.

It was finalised only last month, and the courts fined both of them, after finding they had each attacked the other.

Mr Ayela said Ms George had only acted in self-defence and was appealing her conviction because the court had not accepted her “legitimate self-defence’’ argument.

“She acted in legitimate self-defence. He only got a scratch on his chest. It wasn’t the same level of violence (as his attack on her),’’ he alleged.

“All she did was defend herself.”

Melissa George shops with one of her children in the streets of Paris. Picture: Splash

The judgement handed down in the Palais de Justice in central Paris stated Ms George’s injuries would merit 11 days off work, under French law, while Mr Blanc’s injuries would merit one day off work.

He received a one-month suspended jail term and was ordered to pay 1000 euros ($1400) in compensation to Ms George.

Ms George was not sentenced to any jail term but received a 5000 euro ($7000) fine, which was suspended and she was ordered to pay a token one euro ($1.40) compensation to Mr Blanc.

Mr Blanc is also appealing his conviction.

Ms Laffont, whose previous clients include former president Nicolas Sarkozy, told News Corp that Mr Blanc had only acted in self-defence after Ms George attacked him.

‘It was a love story and it turned to hell’. Melissa George in France. Picture: Marc Piasecki/GC Images

Melissa George's former husband, Jean David Blanc. Picture: KCS Presse

“Mr Blanc has said since the start that he was forced to defend himself against Ms George’s scratching and attacks,’’ she said.

“Even the prosecutor said that he believed that 11 days was a bit much.

“She was hardly back home again (the night of the altercation) when she was filmed smiling.”

CCTV inside the entrance hall inside the family apartment was scrutinised and screen grabs were shown in court as part of the hearing.

Ms Laffont said: “we see her smiling” in these screen grabs, taken just hours after the altercation.

In the past: Jean-David Blanc and Melissa George at the Opening Gala Dinner during the 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival in 2016. Picture: Getty

The row, according to Mr Ayela, led to Ms George being asked to leave the penthouse apartment the family had shared overlooking the historic La Madeleine Church in the up-market Place de la Madeleine in Paris’ 8th arrondissement. It is close to the apartment where US reality star Kim Kardashian was robbed last year of $13 million in jewellery.

Mr Blanc, an internet whiz-kid who made a fortune with a series of cutting-edge technology companies, still lives at the penthouse.

“He (Mr Blanc) threw her out of their huge apartment, which I believe is around 400 square metres, at the Place de la Madeleine,’’ Mr Ayela claimed.

He said Ms George was living in a temporary apartment but wouldn’t say how big it was.

Ms Laffont defended her client, saying: “If a judge gives each parent a week each with the children that means that there is no doubt that Mr Blanc is not a violent man.

“It is very rare for such a decision when the children are so young.

“Things have clearly changed since the initial narrative,” she said, alleging Ms George had presented to the media a classic tale of a woman beaten by her partner.

“The story has crumbled as the months went by,’’ Ms Laffont claimed.

Happier times: George and Blanc before they were embroiled in a nasty legal battle. Picture: Melissa George/Instagram

The court judgment, seen by News Corp, noted Ms George had suffered “several ecchymoses, anedema, and an erythema of the left cheek”, meaning bruising, swelling and redness.

It noted the “the supposed hysterical character of M George cannot justify the violence to which she was subjected.”

It further noted that: “If there was a response by M George to a supposed attack,’’ then her response was “disproportionate.’’

Mr Blanc suffered “several scratch marks on the level of the head and neck, the front part of the thorax, and on the left side of the thorax” which Mr Blanc said left him “psychologically shocked.”

It said Mr Blanc’s injuries went beyond what would have been a defensive response by Ms George.

The ruling said the court had been unable to establish who had started the altercation.

It said that given the “contexte passionnel’’ of the case (meaning it was seen as a crime of passion), the judge decided to opt for a “moderate application of the law.”

Additional reporting: Rory Mulholland