Pop singer Michelle McManus was “battered” with a guitar case by a musician who apparently stood her up on a date years earlier, a court heard.
The former Pop Idol winner was attacked by Derek McArthur outside the Linen pub in Glasgow’s Shawlands in January 2017.
Ms McManus said she was left injured and an “absolute wreck” after the incident.
The 38-year-old stated: “I was hysterical and terrified. I could not believe it had happened.”
McArthur, of Shawlands, was fined £350 after being found guilty of assault at a trial at Glasgow’s Justice of the Peace Court.
The 41 year-old had denied the charge claiming he had been acting in self defence.
He said Ms McManus’s husband, Jeff Nimmo, had punched him after asking: “Why did you grab my missus’ t***.”
Ms McManus had been out with her husband and others on January 21, 2017, to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They later ended up in Ms McManus’ local pub Linen.
McArthur – who often performed there – was also in the bar that night.
The court heard McArthur had at one point accidentally fallen into the singer’s chest after playing on a skateboard. Ms McManus and her group later left the bar in the early hours.
She then recalled being outside when McArthur came towards her “at speed”.
Ms McManus told prosecutor John Bedford “He was absolutely incensed – screaming in my face. “He was totally incoherent. He then had his guitar case and battered me with it.”
She remembered being hit once down the left hand side of her face and falling to the ground.
“He had been furious,” she said.
“I don’t know why. It all happened so quickly.”
The court heard witnesses tried to stop McArthur, but he fled the scene.
Ms McManus added: “I was hysterical, absolutely terrified. I was in total devastation, as anyone would be.”
She later made an appeal on Twitter to try and trace McArthur. The trial was told Ms McManus did not leave the house for days until her husband urged her to see a doctor.
She was put on medication describing herself as an “absolute wreck”.
Ms McManus said: “I still believe there was no rhyme nor reason for this.”
She went on to admit to a “couple of interactions” with McArthur prior to the alleged attack.
In 2013 or 2014, Ms McManus recalled arranging a date with a “nice” man called Des on Tinder.
This person then failed to show – but got in touch again urging her to meet.
Ms McManus remembered this man soon becoming “aggressive” and she cut any contact.
Around a year later, she was in Linen when a man hosting an open mic singing night apparently made a jibe directed at her.
The remark was: “Don’t you hate it when talentless people win talent shows and there are real musicians like me.”
Ms McManus spoke to the bar’s manager – who went on to tell her the entertainer and this man had previously “gone out” with each other.
She said: “It was then I realised it was the man on Tinder.” She later denied claims of “lying to protect” her husband.
Andy Aitken, defending, suggested Mr Nimmo had punched McArthur outside the pub that night.
Mr Nimmo also denied in court attacking McArthur.
Mr Aitken suggested he had punched the musician after his wife was called a “fat b******.”
He replied: “No. I regret my wife was attacked and I could not protect her.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel