‘Peter never loved me . . . only my name and money’ claims McColgan

Olympic medal winner Liz McColgan has spoken of the break- up of her marriage and her desire to start a new life away from a husband she claimed “never loved me, only my name and wealth”.

Last week, in court, her estranged husband, Peter McColgan, claimed she has assaulted him in front of their children and then publicly accused of her of infidelity.

However, the one-time world 10,000 metres champion was last week acquitted of assault after her lawyer painted a picture of her husband as a “shifty, conniving” man whose evidence was neither reliable nor credible.

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McColgan, 47, has now spoken of her life with her husband, a former Northern Ireland steeplechase runner.

“Peter is not the person I knew,” she said. “I thought he was a person who was in love with me, that we had this fantastic life together, but now I know he was with me for the great lifestyle and who I was. I don’t think he ever loved me at all.”

At her family home near Carnoustie, near Dundee, she also spoke of her anger at being treated like a criminal after being arrested over the “assault” on her husband, and of how she hopes now to be given a second chance in love after finding a new partner.

The couple’s marriage unravelled last year and the pair announced their intention to divorce. However, they said they would still live together for the sake of their children Eilish, 21, Martin, 12, Eamonn, 11, Kieran, nine, and Orla, six.

But the amicable arrangement disintegrated in July when the couple clashed after she received a letter from Mr McColgan’s lawyer, suggesting they should sell their luxury home.

At Arbroath Sheriff Court, Mr McColgan claimed that in a heated exchange with his wife, he was “prodded” and punched twice in the face by her before she threw his clothes out of a window, in front of their children – a claim that was later rejected by a sheriff.

In court, Mr McColgan admitted using ‘spyware’ to check up on his wife on the social networking site Facebook, and to sending anonymous text messages to her and a man he suspected she was having an affair with.

Recalling her arrest, the day after the “assault” on her husband, she said she was playing rounders in the garden with the children when two police officers arrived.

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She said: “At first, I thought someone was going to step in and say they were joking. When I realised they were absolutely serious, all I could think of were the kids and trying to get someone to look after them while I sorted out the mess.

“But at the station, two officers held me firmly by each hand – they said it was the alternative to handcuffing me – and frogmarched me to a cell.”

She also painted a picture of her husband, a man who became obsessed about her success after his own career began to wane and who, she claims, eventually controlled every aspect of her life.

The pair first met as teenagers in the US, where they were on college athletics scholarships in Alabama. Then, in 1986, their world changed when Dundee-born Elizabeth Lynch became a household name by winning gold in the 10,000 metres at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. She married Mr McColgan, her first and only boyfriend, in 1987 in her home city. She said: “I thought we were in love, but I’m not sure now after everything I’ve discovered since. I’m not sure if I ever really knew him at all.”

McColgan said she was optimistic about the future. “I’m in a happier place already,” she said. “I just want to be with my kids. We are going to have a better environment at home and a happier mum. They can see the difference already.

“I never in a million years envisaged going through what I have done, but I was very, very unhappy and I’ve come to the realisation it’s never too late to start over again.”