Doctor denies groping student in city bar
COURT TOLD HOW ALLEGED VICTIM HIT ACCUSED IN THE FACE
A DOCTOR accused of sexually assaulting a university student in a Newcastle city centre bar was punched in his face by his alleged victim, a court heard.
Dr Eoghan Gallagher is accused of grabbing the stranger between the legs as she walked through Floritas, on Collingwood Street, looking for her friends.
The alleged victim, studying at a North East university at the time, said she told him: “You don’t do that to a woman, you picked on the wrong woman”.
She hit him and reported the alleged attack – which she described as him having “completely invaded my body” – to door staff and Dr Gallagher was arrested.
The 34-year-old denies sexual assault and is standing trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
Giving evidence, the complainant said she was looking for her friends in House of Smith last March and went in the adjacent entrance at Floritas around 2am. The woman, who said she had only had one gin and tonic to drink, told jurors: “I had only been in probably two minutes or so and I was walking through the bar.
“As I was walking I saw a gentleman putting his hand out towards me. He was on my right hand side.
“He grabbed me in my vagina. He squeezed as well. I felt his fingers. I moved his hands away. I was in an instant state of panic. I hit him in the face. I flung his hand away. After the incident I said, ‘what you doing, you don’t do that to a woman.’
“I looked directly in his eyes and he said he was sorry. That was after I hit him.”
The woman said she ran out to the bouncers and told them what happened. She pointed him out and he was taken outside.
The alleged victim said: “He tried to speak to me outside and said, ‘I don’t want any trouble’ but I didn’t want to speak to him. I was in tears by this stage.”
Cross-examining, Ros Scott-Bell, for Dr Gallagher, put it to her: “My client recalls a jolt, his recollection is it was a busy club and he was talking to his friend and he has turned and you came together.”
The complainant replied: “Absolutely and categorically not, that’s not the case.”
Miss Scott-Bell continued: “He apologised because he thought he had spilled a drink.”
The woman replied: “That’s absolutely not the case.”
Miss Scott-Bell said: “He didn’t touch you.”
She replied: “He did. He made a conscious decision. He grabbed me, I felt his fingers. He made a conscious decision to put his hand on me then grabbed, squeezed.”
Miss Scott-Bell put it to the witness: “He turned to go towards the bar and as he did so you came together and there was no touching.” She replied: “No that’s wrong.” Miss Scott-Bell continued: “Dr Gallagher was of the view he had either knocked you or spilled the drink.”
The alleged victim replied: “There’s no way I would have punched him for spilling a drink. I’m not proud I punched him because I don’t condone violence but I was panicked because I was by myself and I hit him. That’s because he completely invaded my body.”
She confirmed she said to him: “You don’t do that to a woman, you picked on the wrong girl.”
Miss Scott-Bell said: “He didn’t know what he had done, he was asking you what had he done.”
She replied: “I don’t think that’s true. He was saying sorry.”
Dr Gallagher, of Cartur Mor, Clybaun Road, Knocknacarra, Galway, Ireland, denies sexual assault.
The trial continues.
After the incident I said, ‘what you doing, you don’t do that to a woman’, I looked directly in his eyes and he said he was sorry’