Accused ex-lover hopes for Galloway reconciliation

A CONCERT pianist hopes to rekindle a friendship with a best selling author he is alleged to have harassed, a court heard on Tuesday.

Author Janice Galloway has accused her former lover of harassment. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

Graeme McNaught, 54, said he believed it was possible for him and his former lover Janice Galloway to keep in touch despite the allegations against him.

Miss Galloway and McNaught had previously been in a relationship. They met in 1990 and had a six year on-off relationship during which their son James, 22, a London-based graphic designer, was born.

Miss Galloway later married opera singer Jonathan May and lives with him and her friend Alison Cameron at their home in Uddingston, Lanarkshire.

McNaught, of Mount Vernon, Glasgow, is on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court and faces five charges of acting in a threatening and abusive manner and placing Miss Galloway in a state of fear and alarm. He has denied all the claims against him.

Under cross examination from fiscal depute Imran Bashir, McNaught said: “I have an aspiration to be friends with Janice once again. I have been making an effort with her for a very long time.

“I am hopeful that a friendship or something of that nature can come of this, I never say never.

“I know my son James has a hope that his mother and father can have a friendship.

“We have a long enough life to put things behind us and move on, I do not mean moving in with them, I just want to be friends with them.

“But I have no aspirations of a romantic reunion with that woman.

“Perhaps if James becomes a father then Janice may then forgive me.

“It might be a problem for that household now that five of the charges against me have been dropped, she might have to do some forgiving.

“She could well be nervous just now about that happening given her current nervous disposition.”

McNaught also accused his son and Miss Galloway of not telling the truth when they gave evidence in court.

He said: “I love my son, he is a nice and pleasant young man but he was lying in this court.

“He told a lie or two about a few things, he has come into this court and told lies about my behaviour, it is now in public record that he did lie but I won’t call him a liar.

“One or two lies in court does not make him a liar.

“Janice Galloway was lying lots in court but she is not a liar.

“Alison Cameron told lies as well but I wouldn’t call her a liar.

“I once met her at Lidl in Uddingston in 2011 and had a brief conversation with her which was very pleasant, I told her that James had sent me a card.

“She must be some actress because she then came to this court and said she couldn’t stand me.

“Jonathan May was also lying in court but I can’t call him a liar.

“They were all lying but that is as far as I am going to go, they were not remembering things.”

The court heard earlier been shown a letter McNaught sent to Miss Galloway in January, 2012, which included a list of famous names who had “influenced” him.

They included Simon Cowell, David Beckham, Prince Charles, Osama Bin Laden, Virginia Wade and Andy Murray.

The list also included Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler, whom McNaught praised for the artistic ability.

He said: “The two last ones were great artists.

“I was looking at their paintings, both did fantastic canvasses and look what happened.”

The trial before Sheriff Ray Small continues.