Nwicker60
06-Feb-14, 17:53
Accused claims he was kicked and punched unconscious in vicious attack
"I don't think they missed a bit of me" said the father-of-three in evidence from witness box
A MAN accused of a serious assault outside a Wick nightclub claimed that it was the other way round and that he was subjected to a vicious attack which left him unconscious.
Gordon MacNab, 40, told a jury at Wick Sheriff Court, today, that he wasn't fit for work for several weeks and was still suffering some of the after effects of the beating.
MacNab, of Albert Street, Wick, was giving evidence as one of four men charged on indictment with repeatedly punching and kicking local plumber Ryan Malcolm,22, on his head to his severe injury and permanent impairment, outside the Waterfront nightclub on June 2, 2012. All four pleaded not guilty.
MacNab's co-accused are Kris Campbell, 22 of South Street, Keiss, and Scott Davidson, also 22, of Meiklejohn Court, Thurso. The case against the fourth accused, MacNab's son Gordon Colin MacNab, was dropped yesterday, and he was formally found not guilty.
The court was previously told that MacNab senior came out of the Silver Darlings bar, part of the nightclub complex, pushed Mr Malcolm onto the road, got on top of him and repeatedly punched him. Campbell was said to have landed punches on Mr Malcolm and Davidson was alleged to have kicked him. Mr Malcolm was treated in hospital for bruising and a burst lip and later required surgery for a fractured cheekbone.
MacNab senior, a father of three, told the court on the third day of the trial that he had been on a night out with his wife at the Silver Darlings, and described what happened after the decided to go home and set off to get a taxi.
He said that he had taken only a few steps towards the taxi rank when he was set upon by a group of youths he reckoned numbered five.
MacNab told the jury that, initially, he was attacked from behind and then he seemed to be getting blows "from all directions".
He said: "I remember falling to the ground and hearing what seemed to be people taking a step back before kicking me, again on the head and body. I don't think they missed any bit."
MacNab, of Albert Street, Wick, said his recollections were vague after that and the next he remembered was the police at his house and getting out of bed to go with them, which he described as "a bit of a shock" as he had done nothing wrong. He was detained over the weekend and appeared in court on Monday when he was bailed.
Questioned by his solicitor, George Mathers, MacNab said he had consumed about 14 or 15 drinks that night but was not drunk, and was in, what he described, as "in a happy and good mood".
He said that at the police station, he had asked the officers to speak to the doorman on duty whom he had passed on his way to the taxi rank and also suggested they get sight of CCTV footage in the vicinity of the nightclub but the court heard that wasn't done.
Jury expected to retire tomorrow to consider its verdicts
MacNab subsequently saw a doctor and reported for work at Aberdeen but was certified as unfit and returned home. He said his condition at the police station was "bad". He suffered pain from in his ribs, he had headaches and blurred vision and alleged that when he asked for a doctor he was "basically told to be quiet." His doctor indicated he had been knocked out and concussed and should have been taken to hospital after the incident.
MacNab told the court he still had issues with his back and 'knuckles' sticking out from cracked ribs, months after the incident. Sneezing and coughing caused him pain and lying down was an effort.
He told Mr Mathers that he had no idea how Mr Malcolm had come to be attacked but strenuously denied assaulting him, describing the suggestion that he did, as "nonsense."
Asked if he had fought back during the attack on him, MacNab replied that the blows were coming "from all directions" and conceded he would have been trying to defend himself.
Had he been punching and kicking, asked Mr Mathers;
MacNab: "I don't remember going any of that . Anything I did was in self defence. I could not have got away, I was surrounded." He added that the trauma of being beaten up, had had an adverse effect on his personality.
MacNab rejected a suggestion by David Barclay, prosecuting, that he had left the Silver Darlings "looking for a brawl" describing it as "plain crazy."
His son, Gordon Colin MacNab, 19, a Wick lab assistant, told how he found his father, after leaving the Silver Darlings.
"He was lying on the ground unconscious and bleeding from his face" said MacNab. He added that the accused Campbell and Davidson were still inside the Waterfront at that stage.
Earlier in the trial, defence solicitors highlighted inconsistencies in the evidence given by some of the prosecution witnesses who were accused of "trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the jury".
Another agent told a witness that he had plotted with others to "set about" MacNab senior and added: "You went out like a pack of wolves and attacked him."
Defence speeches will conclude tomorrow, ahead of Sheriff Andrew Berry's address to the jury which will then retire to consider its verdicts.
"I don't think they missed a bit of me" said the father-of-three in evidence from witness box
A MAN accused of a serious assault outside a Wick nightclub claimed that it was the other way round and that he was subjected to a vicious attack which left him unconscious.
Gordon MacNab, 40, told a jury at Wick Sheriff Court, today, that he wasn't fit for work for several weeks and was still suffering some of the after effects of the beating.
MacNab, of Albert Street, Wick, was giving evidence as one of four men charged on indictment with repeatedly punching and kicking local plumber Ryan Malcolm,22, on his head to his severe injury and permanent impairment, outside the Waterfront nightclub on June 2, 2012. All four pleaded not guilty.
MacNab's co-accused are Kris Campbell, 22 of South Street, Keiss, and Scott Davidson, also 22, of Meiklejohn Court, Thurso. The case against the fourth accused, MacNab's son Gordon Colin MacNab, was dropped yesterday, and he was formally found not guilty.
The court was previously told that MacNab senior came out of the Silver Darlings bar, part of the nightclub complex, pushed Mr Malcolm onto the road, got on top of him and repeatedly punched him. Campbell was said to have landed punches on Mr Malcolm and Davidson was alleged to have kicked him. Mr Malcolm was treated in hospital for bruising and a burst lip and later required surgery for a fractured cheekbone.
MacNab senior, a father of three, told the court on the third day of the trial that he had been on a night out with his wife at the Silver Darlings, and described what happened after the decided to go home and set off to get a taxi.
He said that he had taken only a few steps towards the taxi rank when he was set upon by a group of youths he reckoned numbered five.
MacNab told the jury that, initially, he was attacked from behind and then he seemed to be getting blows "from all directions".
He said: "I remember falling to the ground and hearing what seemed to be people taking a step back before kicking me, again on the head and body. I don't think they missed any bit."
MacNab, of Albert Street, Wick, said his recollections were vague after that and the next he remembered was the police at his house and getting out of bed to go with them, which he described as "a bit of a shock" as he had done nothing wrong. He was detained over the weekend and appeared in court on Monday when he was bailed.
Questioned by his solicitor, George Mathers, MacNab said he had consumed about 14 or 15 drinks that night but was not drunk, and was in, what he described, as "in a happy and good mood".
He said that at the police station, he had asked the officers to speak to the doorman on duty whom he had passed on his way to the taxi rank and also suggested they get sight of CCTV footage in the vicinity of the nightclub but the court heard that wasn't done.
Jury expected to retire tomorrow to consider its verdicts
MacNab subsequently saw a doctor and reported for work at Aberdeen but was certified as unfit and returned home. He said his condition at the police station was "bad". He suffered pain from in his ribs, he had headaches and blurred vision and alleged that when he asked for a doctor he was "basically told to be quiet." His doctor indicated he had been knocked out and concussed and should have been taken to hospital after the incident.
MacNab told the court he still had issues with his back and 'knuckles' sticking out from cracked ribs, months after the incident. Sneezing and coughing caused him pain and lying down was an effort.
He told Mr Mathers that he had no idea how Mr Malcolm had come to be attacked but strenuously denied assaulting him, describing the suggestion that he did, as "nonsense."
Asked if he had fought back during the attack on him, MacNab replied that the blows were coming "from all directions" and conceded he would have been trying to defend himself.
Had he been punching and kicking, asked Mr Mathers;
MacNab: "I don't remember going any of that . Anything I did was in self defence. I could not have got away, I was surrounded." He added that the trauma of being beaten up, had had an adverse effect on his personality.
MacNab rejected a suggestion by David Barclay, prosecuting, that he had left the Silver Darlings "looking for a brawl" describing it as "plain crazy."
His son, Gordon Colin MacNab, 19, a Wick lab assistant, told how he found his father, after leaving the Silver Darlings.
"He was lying on the ground unconscious and bleeding from his face" said MacNab. He added that the accused Campbell and Davidson were still inside the Waterfront at that stage.
Earlier in the trial, defence solicitors highlighted inconsistencies in the evidence given by some of the prosecution witnesses who were accused of "trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the jury".
Another agent told a witness that he had plotted with others to "set about" MacNab senior and added: "You went out like a pack of wolves and attacked him."
Defence speeches will conclude tomorrow, ahead of Sheriff Andrew Berry's address to the jury which will then retire to consider its verdicts.