Grand piano busker guilty of abusing two women

A PIANIST known for playing in public has been exposed as a violent abuser of women.

Christopher Scamp caused a stir when he started playing a grand piano in Glasgow Central Station last year.

But the 31-year-old’s darker side was revealed in court yesterday when he was convicted of two charges of assaulting two women and two of subjecting them to threatening or abusive behaviour.

Scamp, originally of Liverpool, carried out the offences in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, between January and November 2018.

In one case, the campaign of violence and intimidation lasted for three months, while the other victim’s ordeal went on for eight months.

Sheriff Michael Hanlon told Scamp: ‘I found the two complainers to be both credible and reliable in their evidence.

‘Nothing which you said has raised any doubt in my mind and I find your explanations to be incredible and consequently find you guilty of the charges.’

Scamp, right, flicked a cigarette at his first victim before punching and kicking her, Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard. The offences took place between January and April. He punched, kicked, choked and slapped the second woman then snatched her spectacles from her face, causing scratches, and kicked her in the stomach, between April and November.

He sent a text message to the latter victim apologising for his ‘nastiness’, which he blamed on pain caused by toothache.

But she replied: ‘Pain ain’t no excuse for the violence and abuse you put me through pretty much on a daily basis.’

Scamp had denied the charges, claiming his victims were jealous and had conspired to invent the claims.

Sheriff Hanlon deferred sentence until next month for background reports and bail was continued.

Outside court, one victim said: ‘First he gets your trust and then later the attacks and the abuse start.

‘That’s how Christopher Scamp operates. If there are other women out there who have suffered at his hands, I hope for the sake of others they come forward.’