Sacked AA boss ‘hit me in the face and cut my lip’
Police investigated Bob Mackenzie in 2016 over claims he punched a woman in street row
THE AA chairman sacked for assaulting a colleague was investigated by police for punching a woman in the face less than a year before, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Bob Mackenzie, who is suing the AA for £220million, is alleged to have struck his female victim in the face, splitting her lip, before pushing her against a wall and causing her head to split open. Mr Mackenzie broke his leg during the incident but did not tell the AA, claiming he had tripped on the pavement. In fact, he had been knocked over by the woman’s boyfriend as he tried to protect her.
Catherine Dodkin, 40, the alleged victim, told The Daily Telegraph: “He [Mackenzie] was inches from my face, shouting at me. His body language was so aggressive. And then he punched me. He smacked me in the face. That is when my lip split.” Miss Dodkin alleges that she was floored by the punch but got back up, only for Mr Mackenzie to shove her into a brick wall. Her head hit a corner and split open, leaving blood pouring from the wound.
Mr Mackenzie, 65, denied he had punched Miss Dodkin, but accepted he had shoved her – but only in self-defence and to protect his wife, Jane, who was with him.
The father of five has maintained his attack on the AA’S head of insurance Mike Lloyd, during an away day at a hotel, was out of character. He blamed the incident on stress and exhaustion brought on by the job, as well as mixing prescription drugs with alcohol. The fracas in Bermondsey, southeast London, took place in September 2016, 10 months before his attack on Mr Lloyd at the five-star Pennyhill Park Hotel in Surrey. He was sacked from his £1.2million-a-year job and stripped of a payout in share options worth as much as £68million because he was a “bad leaver”.
He is suing the AA for £220million in a case that is destined for the High Court. The AA is expected to countersue and demand repayment of £1.2 million in bonuses paid to Mr Mackenzie owing to gross misconduct, including the assault on Mr Lloyd and the fracas involving Miss Dodkin.
Miss Dodkin has offered to testify on behalf of the AA, giving her version of the events that led to her and Mr Mackenzie requiring hospital treatment,
‘In his eyes, I attacked him. He claims he was defending his wife, but I didn’t go anywhere near her’
and a police investigation that was eventually dropped when neither side wanted to press charges.
Miss Dodkin, who runs a property management business in Mayfair, central London, had been out for the evening with a friend. She admits she had drunk about three quarters of a bottle of prosecco over the course of four hours.
Miss Dodkin was standing on the pavement outside her house when she claims a Jaguar sped past, coming close to her in the process, before turning a corner. She says she regrets what she did next – she chased after the car, which had come to a halt just beyond the tight bend – to remonstrate.
“It was about 11.30pm and where I live there is a section of road that is very narrow,” she recalled, “My boyfriend had just dropped me off. Then this car went past. I thought it was going too fast and I was concerned because I have seen people nearly taken out by delivery vans.
“I went to speak to the driver and knocked on the window and said: ‘Crikey! You were going very, very quickly. What were you doing?” The car, she recalled, had blacked-out windows. “The next thing I know this man got out of the back and came around and started shouting at me. I was really taken aback.”
The passenger being chauffeurdriven was Mr Mackenzie, the chairman and former chief executive of the AA. He was wearing a black-tie dinner jacket. He and his wife, Jane, a chartered accountant, had been out to dinner. They were staying at their son’s flat around the corner from Miss Dodkin.
According to Miss Dodkin’s version of events, she quickly realised she had made an error in chasing after the car.
“I was pretty upset because he [Mr Mackenzie] was shouting at me to ‘go home to bed, little girl’ and telling me I was drunk. It was obvious he had been drinking quite a lot and that is when I realised he was a little more aggressive than I had first thought.
“He was in my face; he was inches from my face. He was much taller than me. I put my arms up like just to say get away from me. And then he punched me. He smacked me in the face. That is when my lip split. I was in shock.
“He punched me to the floor and he was stood over me, shouting at me to shut up. I was screaming ‘help me, help me’. I got up to my feet and then he pushed me and my head slammed into a brick wall. I heard my head crack and then this wave of nausea hit. I felt physically sick. My head was spinning.”
At that stage, according to Miss Dodkin, her boyfriend, who had been parking the car, arrived after hearing her screams for help. Miss Dodkin claims that Mr Mackenzie then “went for” her partner, who defended himself.
He knocked into Mr Mackenzie, who fell off the kerb and into the road, slipping behind the car. He broke his leg and ankle as a result.
Police began inquiries but, without CCTV, it was not clear whose story to believe. Mr Mackenzie has claimed that he and his wife had been attacked by Miss Dodkin and her partner. It is understood Mr Mackenzie’s chauffeur, who was employed by the AA, largely backs up Miss Dodkin’s version.
Mr Mackenzie last night told The Telegraph: “The woman scratched at my wife. I tried to hold the woman at arm’s length. She ripped my hearing aid and threw it down the road.
“She made a lunge for Jane and I pushed her. She staggered back and hit the wall. Then she attacked my wife again and I pushed her away. I don’t know how she got the split lip.”
The former AA boss denied any wrongdoing and said he didn’t press charges because he “didn’t want the publicity”. He said he had no contractual duty to inform the AA.
Miss Dodkin said: “In his eyes, I attacked him. But that is a complete lie. He claims he was defending his wife, but I didn’t go anywhere near her.”
Miss Dodkin has given a statement to the AA. “They have said it is highly unlikely but I am prepared to go to court and testify against him even though it will be traumatic,” she said.