Spy claim accused’s guilty plea
A man accused of assaulting and abducting a Stirling model after she dumped him yesterday (Thursday) pleaded guilty to heavily reduced charge - despite continuing to believe she is a secret service agent.
Nathan Gray was alleged to have held ex-lover Elaine Ford , 28, against her will and then dragged her across her bedroom floor after she told him she wanted to end their short fling.
Gray, 27, was then said to have conducted a stalking campaign against the model in the months following their split in November 2013.
But moments before the seventh day of his trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court was due to commence the court was told Gray had agreed to plead guilty to a breach of the peace charge.
Not guilty pleas to abduction, assault and engaging in a course of conduct that caused Ms Ford fear and alarm were all accepted by the Crown.
But following the engineering graduate’s guilty plea the court was told Gray continued to believe Ms Ford had been enlisted by the Intelligence Services and used their relationship to gather business secrets from his father Iain who worked for Airbus at the time. Following the guilty plea being accepted, Sheriff Alastair Noble said:“Is Mr Gray still maintaining the complainer is a spy?
Defence advocate Iain Smith replied:“Yes, that is the position.”
Sheriff Noble deferred sentence for reports and told Gray he must not make any contact with Ms Ford until then.
On Wednesday, John Ford, the model’s father, told the court his daughter had become “stressed and agitated”in the weeks after she broke up with Gray.
Previously the court was told Gray, from Weymouth, Dorset, believed Ms Ford was an MI5 operative who had begun their liaison so she could get close to his father and his business dealings.When confronted with the spy allegations during her evidence a stunned Ms Ford told the court they were“ludicrous”.
Gray pleaded guilty to conducting himself in a disorderly manner, leaving Ms Ford’s flat with her belongings, re-entering the flat uninvited, shouting, swearing, refusing to leave when asked to do so, repeateded attempts to contact the occupants of the flat and commit a breach of the peace at Warrender Park Road, Edinburgh, on November 27, 2013.