Ex-football club boss denies pub charity night attack on OAP

FORMER Dundee FC owner Jimmy Marr went on trial yesterday accused of assaulting a 75-year-old woman.

Marr, 55, is also accused of punching her husband and headbutting her friend when they intervened.

The incident took place at the High Corner Bar in Dundee – one of 22 pubs owned by Marr’s company – on May 30 last year.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard a fundraiser was being held that night to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Margaret Morrell, 75, said the incident had started when Marr’s wife Karen had gone to stand on their table to dance.

She told the court Mrs Marr had been holding a glass of wine and was spilling it on people, so she asked Mrs Marr to stop.

She added: ‘Mr Marr came across and said, “She can do what she wants, this is my pub”. He threw a drink over me and said, “Get out of my pub”.’

Mrs Morrell said Marr, of Liff, Angus, then threw another drink over her.

Her husband, Patrick, 65, told the trial he was outside when the dispute started and went back in to investigate. He said he was then punched by Marr, causing him to fall to the ground.

William Dunn, 60, a friend of the Morrells, said it had ‘been a good evening until Marr threw a drink over Margaret’. He added: ‘He said if we didn’t like it we could “f*** off ”. I said that was out of order. He said, “Out of order?” then headbutted me.’

Marr said he had turned up with his wife and two friends after the manager had convinced him it would be ‘ good for the pub’ for the owner to appear. He said he had pledged to double whatever funds were

‘I birled him

around’

raised for Macmillan before the incident occurred.

But Marr denied pouring drinks over Mrs Morrell or attacking the two men. Instead, he said, he had intervened when one of the men had pushed his wife’s leg as she went to stand on the table.

Marr told the court: ‘I went over to see if she was OK. One of them got aggressive and went head to head with me.

‘I grabbed him and birled him round. There was a l ot of pushing and shoving and I ended up on the floor.’

Marr denied three charges of assault and one of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner on summary complaint.

Sheriff Alistair Carmichael ruled there was no case to answer in r espect of t he t hreatening and abusive behaviour charge.

The trial on the other three charges will continue l ater this month.