AN MSP allegedly put his former wife in hospital by pushing her to the ground, a court has been told.
The trial of Bill Walker heard his second wife, Anne Gruber, hit her head on concrete.
The politician, 71, is accused of a string of attacks against Mrs Gruber and three other women over a 28-year period.
The independent member for Dunfermline denies 23 assaults and one breach of the peace.
On the fourth day of Mr Walker's trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Dr Kranti Hiremath said she had been asked to review Mrs Gruber's medical records from the 1970s and 1980s. She read to the court an entry made by Mrs Gruber's doctor on November 5, 1983.
It said: "She attended the accident and emergency department at the royal infirmary at 4am or 5am, having been pushed by her husband, falling to the ground, striking her head on concrete."
The notes said Mrs Gruber, then known as Mrs Walker, was not unconscious but had bruising and swelling to the back of her head, the court heard.
Dr Hiremath agreed the injuries were consistent with "blunt force trauma" and the account given by Mrs Gruber.
She also read another entry, which said: "My opinion is Mrs Walker's condition of anxiety and depression over many months has been largely due to her husband's behaviour which appears unreasonable and latterly violent.
Under cross-examination by Mr Walker's lawyer, solicitor advocate Gordon Martin, Dr Hiremath agreed the records were based on Mrs Gruber's account of events.
The court also heard from Detective Sergeant Paul Dick who detained Mr Walker.
Mr Dick read from a transcript of a police interview in which the MSP was asked about a claim he punched first wife Maureen Traquair in the eye two weeks before their marriage in 1967.
Mr Walker told police he had "absolutely no recollection" of the incident, Mr Dick said.
In extracts of the interview read to the court, the MSP said: "I've no comment there. No, completely deny that. Deny it. Deny everything, don't know anything about it. Can't remember anything about anything like that."
Mr Dick said that, when asked about violence in his relationship with Mrs Gruber, Mr Walker said she once tried to stab him with an old metal dagger.
The officer said Mr Walker laughed as he described how his wife advanced on him with the dagger. He told police: "I was lucky I managed to grab it or it would have been right in my abdomen."
The trial continues.
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