Fife golfer (69) accused of violent attack on club pro
A golf club professional has told a trial he was violently assaulted in his shop in a dispute over a pair of sun glasses.
The incident at Dunfermline Golf Club, Crossford, resulted in club pro Christopher Nugent sustaining a broken arm.
He told the trial that he was also choked and threats were made about his wife and family by unhappy customer Lawrence Ogilvie.
In the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court was Ogilvie (69), of Glen Moriston Drive, Cairneyhill.
He denies that on 13th August last year at Dunfermline Golf Club, Cairneyhill Road, Crossford, he assaulted Christopher Nugent by seizing his clothing, pulling him, threatening him with violence, pulling him over a counter causing him to fall to the ground, straddled him, pinned him to the ground and seized him by the neck, all to his severe injury.
Mr Nugent, 43, told the court the incident had happened after Ogilvie came in to club shop early in the morning with an inquiry about a pair of sun glasses he had bought there previously.
Mr Nugent said after the purchase Ogilvie had not been happy with the lenses and he previously ordered another set for him.
“He wasn’t happy with the new ones either. He said they weren’t fit for purpose and wanted me to order a set he had found through a Google search.
“He had printed off a couple of sheets of paper about them. I said I couldn’t do that. They had been purchased six months ago and I could only order through my suppliers.
“He demanded that I order these as replacements.”
“What was his demeanour?” asked depute fiscal Jade Doig.
“Not very pleasant. I refused and said I couldn’t order anything from this website he had found. He asked if I was extremely stupid.
“He said, ‘You will order these f****** glasses’. I said again that I couldn’t do that.”
Mr Nugent said he was sitting on a stool behind the shop counter when Ogilvie then attacked him.
“He grabbed me by the collar at the front of my neck and shook me back and forward. He was extremely angry. He grabbed my left arm and I was pushed out to the shop floor.
“It all happened very quickly. I was spun around and I crashed into one of the clothing units. I believe that’s when I broke my arm.
“I was then thrown on to the floor and Mr Ogilvie was on top of me. He had his hand on my neck squeezing it, using a lot of force. I thought I was going to become unconscious.
“He was sitting straddled on top of me, pinning me down. There was very little I could do. I had severe pain in my arm.
“I was just trying to breathe. He probably held my neck for 30 to 40 seconds. Again he threatened me and said I better do as he asked.
“He said if he saw me, my wife and the children in the village or at Tesco he would have us.
“He got up, gathered the papers he’d brought in and left.”
The police and ambulance service were called and Mr Nugent was taken to the Victoria Hospital where an X-ray confirmed he had sustained a fracture to the top of his right arm.
He told the court his arm had been in a sling for seven weeks after the incident.
Defence solicitor Roshni Joshi accused Mr Nugent of lying and put it to him he had been the aggressive one with the injury caused when the two men fell to the floor in a struggle.
Mr Nugent denied this. The line of questioning did not go down well with some people in the public gallery, which brought a warning from Sheriff Pino di Emidio.
He said that if there were further interruptions the culprits could be taken to the cells for contempt of court.
The trial will continue on 29th November.
