Woman theatregoer attacked former cop after Jersey Boys musical, court told
A RETIRED police officer has claimed that a woman theatregoer attacked him after a performance of the musical Jersey Boys.
Alistair Malcolm, 59, said he was struck and clawed on the face at Glasgow’s King’s Theatre on April 19, 2022.
The former officer of 30 years stated that alleged assault happened after warning women of their etiquette.
Lorna Carmichael, 43, is on trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court accused of assaulting Mr Malcolm to his injury. Co-accused Ann Gillespie, 52, is alleged to have assaulted his daughter Alison Malcolm on the same occasion.
The pair, of the city’s Garthamlock and Germiston, face separate charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
Mr Malcolm told the court on Thursday that he attended the evening performance with his wife, sister and two of his three daughters. He claimed he was aware that ‘something had happened’ but did not see it due to his seat position.
After the performance, the witness noticed three women on the landing at the stairs.
He stated: ‘One in particular was looking back and looked angry to me. She was shouting something back towards where we were standing.’
Mr Malcolm claimed that he exchanged ‘verbals’ with the woman. He added: ‘I said to her at one point about common decency and theatre etiquette. That didn’t please her.’
He stated that the woman told him they were ‘enjoying themselves’, to which he allegedly replied: ‘You are just drunk.’ Mr Malcolm claimed the woman then ‘lunged’ at him, which caused him to fall on the stairs and the woman’s body was on top of his legs which pinned him down. He said: ‘I could feel a few blows and scratching to my head. I could feel she was trying to get her nails in my eye socket – I spent my time holding her hand away.’
The former officer claimed he was ‘shocked that something like that happened at the theatre on a Tuesday night’.
The court was shown images of Mr Malcolm with apparent marks and scratches to his face and head. Neal McShane, defending, asked if he had called the women ‘three drunken s***ts.’
Mr Malcolm replied: ‘I never said that.’
He also denied claims that he had punched the woman and pushed her mother down stairs.
The trial continues before Sheriff David Taylor in June.