Billy Graham's daughter spends night in jail after 'throttling' her husband

The daughter of the evangelist Billy Graham, herself a public speaker and author of religious books, has been arrested and charged with domestic violence after choking her husband in a car park.

Police in Florida arrested Virginia Foreman and made her spend a night in jail after witnesses saw the 59-year-old woman push her husband to the ground and take hold of him by the throat. The man was not badly hurt and told officers there was no need to arrest his wife - a view the police did not share.

"The defendant intentionally struck the victim against his will. The victim and the defendant are currently married, making this domestic violence," read the police report.

The report said the couple had been arguing while they were in their gold-coloured Ford Mustang near New Smyrna Beach. To avoid an altercation, Mr Foreman stopped the vehicle, put it into neutral and got out. His wife pursued him and grabbed him by the throat.

She then got into their car and drove after her husband, who by this point was hiding behind a truck in an adjacent supermarket car park. Several witnesses saw the confrontation and spoke to police.

When police asked Mr Foreman, 53, about his wife's behaviour he replied: "She was upset and did not mean any harm by it." He told the officers his wife had been upset about an incident that had happened earlier in the evening and that "she did not need to be arrested".

Mrs Foreman was charged with domestic violence over the incident, which took place on 1 July, and held overnight in the Volusia County Jail. She told police that her hands were on her husband's shoulders, not around his throat.

TheSmokinggun.com website reported her as saying: "If you knew my husband, you'd know that nobody puts their hands around his neck."

Mrs Foreman's 86-year-old father, America's most influential evangelist, recently concluded a three-day revival meeting in New York City that drew tens of thousands of people. Reverend Graham, who has prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease, said it was probably his "last crusade".